Re:Live
by winterartino
Summary: Another one-eyed ghoul has been recruited into Aogiri Tree. She doesn't want equality or dominance over the human race. She doesn't want to gouge on humans like Rize does, nor does she want to avoid killing like Kaneki does. Peace isn't her thing, too much of everything is sickening. Adventure, excitement, action. There is more to the world than there is now.
1. Understanding the Darkness

**Understanding the Darkness**

_Even ghouls search for peace.  
But one certainly isn't._

* * *

She hated the tranquility and peace that settled upon the abandoned building. It simply wrecked her soul, her oh so simple soul that simply wished to trample on some flowers on the ground. Flowers were weak and fragile, after all. The girl pressed onto her bandaged arm, staring as her very own blood started to stain it again. Not that she cared, though. All she was, was bored. Sure, the fight with the _doves _at Yamakawa Prefecture did quite some damage to her and her team, but the fact that they were all brute force and no-brainers, it all ended in a mere _half an hour. _Half an hour! It was ridiculous.

There was a time where she herself held the remains of a fellow being as a weapon. _Irina. _Her only companion. Ukaku weapons were certain fabulous for the human she was; the hypocritical CCG member who no one understood or loved. And all over again, it was for the chaos. The destruction. In a way, that could be what many call 'inner peace'. But being the ambiguous person she was, that words was simply so contradictory in political terms.

Hanging over the railings, she flipped herself over to watch a certain teenager, wrapping his hand in a fresh bandage as the usual 'piss off' look was on his face. It made her giggle, just a little bit. She wasn't like Eto, though she'd have to admit; they could be very similar at times. The light shone through the windows, lighting up his dark blue hair. Considering his spectacular mood swing, he must've met his sister today.

"Stupid woman, what do you think you're staring at?" The boy snapped her his head swung around to face her, who was still bending backwards from the railings.

"An angry teenage boy who can't seem to wrap a bandage round his hand properly?" She hummed in a sing-song voice, all the more making him furious.

Hopping from the upper floor, the girl flipped her body into mid-space. Landing right in front of him, he grunted uncomfortably as he pushed himself away from her. The glistening of her straight, long, purple hair and the mischievous glow of her hazel eyes made her look...enchanting. Seeing this for probably the 100th time already, he merely scoffed. Her type of charm, that ambiguous charm, made no effect on him whatsoever.

Although his apparent hate for her presence, he let her do the job of taping up his wound. She did it in quick fashion, smiling gleefully before jumping off towards the rusted door.

"Manage your temperament or **onee-chan **wouldn't love you, Tsundere~"

Once she left, all that was heard in the room was the echoes of a closed door and cussing of a lonesome ghoul, who seethed in anger in the remembrance of his meeting with his sister.

* * *

"Oh, you made Ayato angry again?" Nico smiled brightly at the equally energetic girl who spun around her seat before settling down again.

"No, I just added oil to the fire." She smiled, clearly aware of her actions.

"Hmmm, I see. So, did the doves at Yamakawa Prefecture do you good?" The effeminate man whisked his cup of blood as he asked.

"They got my shoulder alright." The girl did a set of bizarre actions before settling down again. "Ate them up in 30 minutes."

"That's very like you, Miharu-chan! Always in it was the mere excitement and thrill. You know doing too much may ruin your beautiful face, you should take care of it." He pointed at her right cheek, which had a small scar running down from her jaw to her chin.

"I thought favouritism worked in a hierarchy such as this. Guess I was correct." Miharu played with the saucer, pondering over. "At least it works well for both parties."

"Everything has a reason, my dear." Nico placed his glass down gently. "You yearn for chaos a bit too much. The peace in this place right now- you must learn to see through it. Well, it is time to meet Tatara."

* * *

And without a word, the both of them simply headed towards their own destinations. Miharu, bored as heck, once again set herself at the railings. Shoving a matcha pocky into her mouth, she could only sigh. Right. She could eat human snacks. Plants are a-okay but animals were just a big fat cross. A more successful product of the all-famous scientist. Unlike the twins, brainwashing Miharu was just a dumb idea- her Kagune simply slapped him into the wall like a mosquito.

Ayato had also left for the meeting with the higher-ups. Compared to them, she was just a middle-ranking commander. Utterly useless and dispensable, actually. Eto could have just ripped her sorry human ass apart when they first met, but the wrapped up ghoul came to like her; and bam. One-eyed ghoul produced.

_"I like you. You're chaotic, unbounded by rules, freedom loving. You defy humans, you defy ghouls. You are you. A separate entity from any other. I will give you a new life you will never forget- be prepared for it."_

"The news flashed something interesting today. An eye-patched ghoul? Amon didn't like that dude very much. Eto liked him, if I remember. Pretty peaceful dude, must be at Yoshimura's." She mumbled, finishing her snack. "But wrecking the whole gourmet centre is a bit..."

Miharu bit her lip. Rich idiots filled up the seats, their ridiculous 'pets' or 'fine dining' they took part in. They were business, but just doing it by himself was _selfish. _Getting her to join wouldn't hurt. Then again, they were not even acquaintances so she wouldn't be able to participate anyway.

"Tokone Miharu, 2nd Rank Commander of the Kyoto District. You have been called into the meeting." A shadow was to be seen at the corner of the room, his deep voice echoing across the walls.

"About time for the feet-snugglers to attend, huh."

She goes against her chaotic nature with her words. Sure, hating peace was part of her. But, with peace comes chaos. As long as she lives, as long as no one changes her, she will remain the _thing _she is.

* * *

Authors Note: Dumb move for me to make another fanfic while struggling with another on-going one. Great. Either way, this was an **indispensable **idea. I couldn't let it go...and it went up here. Please enjoy your reading!

R&amp;R greatly appreciated!


	2. Falling into the Darkness

**Falling into the Darkness**

_There is a beginning to everything.  
Is there?_

* * *

Cold arms wrapped her into a kind embrace. The slow, yet hard beating of the heart could be heard clearly from their close distance. It was so erratic, as if it were going to burst. Warm tears slid down her shoulder, the stifled cries made as soft as possible. She stood there like stone. Still in uniform, her friend looked up to face the expressionless girl. Bright red eyes reflected from the cloudy hazel ones, like magma. Her friend's soft, short coral hair tickled her face as their foreheads leaned against each other.

"Mi-Miharu-chan... I'm so scared...I don't..." Despite the usual depictions of how ferious her race was, there was one, breaking down in a well of emotions at the fear of: death. She maintained her beautiful form despite the swelling of her eyes and tear-stained face. The CCG had issued a raid in Kyoto district, where the young ghoul was residing at. Sadly, her friend was a CCG member, the one right in front of her. And she knew well. But, Miharu had her bare hands of the ghoul's back and head, comforting her with silent actions. There was no indication that she would pull out her gun or sword anytime soon.

"Irina. If it comes to it-"

"NO! I won't- I won't use my kagune...not on humans..." She muttered breathlessly.

"You're too nice, Irina. Kill them." Although it was Irina's eyes that radiated the want to kill, Miharu's venomous voice and heartless eyes were not of blood, but by will. Yes- a human wants fellow humans left dead on the street.

"And you're too cold, Miharu-chan." The other girl smiled bitterly. "You're one of them, and yet-"

"My intuition tells me a ghoul is around here..." The familiar voice of an old man rung out in the alleys. Mado. Beside him was his partner, Amon, fully equipped and ready for battle.

"An SS class, sir?" He questioned.

"Ahh...yes, perhaps."

The two girls darted their eyes to the direction of the approaching footsteps. Irina inhaled sharply as she felt the density of their hate towards her kind. They were running out of time.

"Miharu-chan, I'm scared, I'm scared but-" Purplish-blue flames grew from her back. It was an amazing sight- as if she were painted on a wide canvas. "If you must, make me your partner...even if my soul is gone."

"I'm sure you could use my kagune at its best." Another wry smile. "Kill me."

In that one second, the two older CCG members had arrived at the scene. With a seemingly stoned heart, Miharu drew her sword and in that one instant- it drove right through the heart of the ghoul. Irina dropped onto ground, wringing in pain and mixed emotions. The cemented ground was slowly stained by her blood that endlessly poured out of her chest.

"Mi... ... ha... ... ru... ..." She weakly held onto her friend's ankle, asking for attention. "I...still...love you...okay...?"

"Irina... you were the most noble person I have ever met. Thank you."

With that, her kagune was extracted as painlessly as possible. Mado looked on with utmost curiosity, Amon staring at the living girl with more suspicion than ever.

"This is mine." She eyed them with absolute hate. "I did my job, hypocrites. I did it."

In her mind, there was only the view of a beautiful girl who reminded her of the ocean, lying on the ground lifelessly as her expression was somehow serene.

* * *

The bullets were shot mercilessly at her targets. To her, it was just another game of tag, with the mere risk of death. It made things pumped up: the whirl of emotions involving both sides, their moral implementations, their view upon the world and venting their frustrations upon each other. No matter the entertainment, she did not want to be part of it. Instead, she killed for the fun. Well, she got to watch more entertaining things rather than sit in an office and rot away.

"Tokone! To your right, in the building on fire!"

With absolute skill, she hopped her way up the balcony, flinging a heavy kick on the ghoul who flipped to the ground below. _Irina _was handy in this situation, the several diamond-shaped bullets piercing his heart before stumbling onto the ground. What her friend said a month ago was true. She used the quinqe's abilities with absolute precision.

"Ahhh-AHHHhhhhHhHhHh!"

A _bikaku _wrapped a human and rose his body into the air. The closest CCG member around was of course, Miharu, but she just stood there and watched. He looked down at her in dismay, fear clearly written on his face. The man could only gulp when he saw the empty smile he was given from the child. In that instant, his body was harshly flung into the rows of buildings, completely smashed to smithereens. Not wanting to be next, Miharu finally made her move. Her sword made a clean cut through the enemy before skipping her way towards Amon.

"Amon, I'm dooooooneee."

He gave only a grunt as a reply, struggling to keep his heavy weapon in his hands and the ghoul's _rinkaku _rammed into his defences mercilessly, with barely any second in between. Wanting to watch how it would fold out, she sat herself on the nearest garbage bin, swinging her legs back and forth. A manic smile was etched on the ghoul's face as he saw Amon's exasperated expression, tackling him even harder. Miharu watched on with delight, as if watching a movie. The human growled in anger, impatience and pain. He pummelled his mace into the other's guts and flung him in the air, striking him face flat on the ground. No time was given for the ghoul to react. His head splattered open like a watermelon.

"You could've at least co-operated with me to take him down if you were so free and energetic..." He panted.

"Oh no, it would've spoilt the moment." She giggled, satisfied. "It was a great show."

* * *

Amon was always sceptical of her. Although she was skilled and extremely efficient in battle, she lacked the actual will to kill ghouls. Why was she here in the CCG? Was she merely here for the entertainment, or revenge? He didn't know. Maybe he didn't want to know. But what he definitely knew was that there never will be a chance for him to understand her fully.

Tokone Miharu was eccentric. In a way, she reminded him of Juzo. But, she came from a human family who brought her up properly. Heck, she was even the daughter of a researcher here. But, her views seemed twisted. From time to time, a twist of expressions comes up upon her face whenever anything logically un-based about ghouls was mentioned. To be honest, he thought she was...terrifying.

"Amon~ I got the documents from my dad~" She sung in a dainty voice.

He thanked her, flipping through them carefully till the last page. It was not something that was requested for, nor recognised in anyway.

"May I ask, what is the last document?"

"My thesis on ghoul behaviour." Miharu flashed him one of her ever-present smiles. "Enjoy."

The girl skipped away to Takizawa, who was known as the "Tokone Magnet" since she had an unnatural attachment to him. A frantic yelp was heard when she latched onto him like a leech, pulling him towards wherever in the world. But, a smile etched onto his face, barely seen as the two disappeared into the corridor.

Amon stared at her thesis. Research material was put inside, all sorts of unknown, mysterious images were also shown. The comparison of ghoul and human brains, including x-rays. An array of live ghoul testings and their results. Secret observations of SS class ghouls. These were new.

The man was hit by emotion. His mentor, Mado Kureo, had just passed away at the hands of ghouls. The eye-patched ghoul, who didn't want to kill and spared him mercy. He frowned, absolutely confused.

Miharu knew more than what anyone else did. What actually went on in the labs. What kind of people were working there. What true motives the facility holds. Amon knew that such secrets were slowly being leaked out by her. The way she'd stick to Takizawa even more recently, participate more actively in research than fights and even give him this...It was definetely a part of a bigger plan. Amon made it a note to keep an eye on the mysterious teenager.

* * *

"She's been missing for 3 months already..."

A mutter could be heard from Amon, who typed away furiously at his desk. She was not found at home, nor at the labs, nor at work. No where. The laboratories are now being investigated after she had leaked a majority of the experiments taking place. Even humans were used. There was a CCG officer who had unnatural strength who disapeared. He was found there, writhing in pain. The man had lost his arm, replaced by a kagune which ate at him slowly.

Could she be waiting for this moment? Most definitely. Maybe she had been hunted down by, who knows, the lab researchers.

"Are you talking about Captain Tokone Miharu?" Akira poked her head out from her desk.

"Yes... it is very concerning..." The bulky man's eyes cast down sadly. "I was never fond of her, but what she has done made a great impact on the CCG."

"Maybe she's out there having fun, being a criminal." Her cold voice clearly stated her views on the girl. "Intuition."

"There you go again, 2nd Rank Akira!" Takizawa shouted from across the room. "Miharu isn't going to leave like that!"

"But, it's realistic to think that way. Just remember her face while battling. She's far more worst than Juzo. She's crafty."

Takizawa pouted, turning away in a huff. Amon simply sighed at their interaction. But, what Akira had mentioned was true. Miharu was never an ordinary child. It wouldn't be surprising to see her up and about, killing ghouls without reason. Her disappearance is only the beginning of the doom that would happen. That, is what he knew better than anyone else.

* * *

Miharu was preparing for the day were she left that rotten building for good. There were people there who were interesting: Suzuya Juuzo was pretty cranky, Nagachika Hideyoshi was an upbeat yet mysterious, Koutorou Amon was pretty much a dense man and of course, Takizawa Seidou. She liked him for his earnest personality, and her time with him was enjoyable. Sometimes he reminded her of Irina.

It was not easy to leave such a world behind her back. As she stayed locked inside her test tube, her back tingled with the urge to kill. For now, these flashback may do her good. Her sanity was on the line. The brilliant scientist by the name of Akihiro Kanou smirked at her through the glass.

"How are you, my child?"

"Ready to snap your face off, you piece of shit."

He chuckled, satisfied at her healthy reaction. Tokone Miharu is the best ghoul he'd made so far, side-by-side with the boy, Kaneki Ken. Kanou continued his patrol, listening to the melodies of painful cries and incoherent screams of his lovely experiments.

* * *

Authors Notes: And that, was the brief outlines of Miharu's past. I do not intend to make her too OP, if that may concern you since she's one of Kanou's best (at that time period) and being part of the Aogiri faction.

Thank you for reading! R&amp;R greatly appreciated.


	3. Footsteps Towards the Darkness

**Footsteps to Darkness**

_There is always a person,  
walking away from the light._

_But, what is this 'light' anyway?_

* * *

They were wrapped in black coats and masks, floating through the darkness. A certain leader had black cloth wrapped around her eyes, her purple hair let down in a messy fashion. The smile that she always wore was still there. Her men followed her silently as they reached their destination, a shrine located in the depths of Kyoto. This was their turf; they knew every inch of it.

In front of them laid the beautiful landscape of a shrine, illuminated by the raw light of stars and the moonlight. In fact, the sky looked purple from this hill top. Gravestones were neatly arranged, though not many were there anyway. Unfamiliar names were written on them, obviously. They advanced towards it head-first, full of confidence. Meeting that old man was going to make things tough- very tough indeed. When the building finally revealed itself to them, the said man drew his sword and pointed it at them with murderous intent.

"Aisaka Irie?" Miharu cocked her head to the side, as if she didn't recognise him. He kept his sword under her chin, scowling at the over-confident child.

"...Irina's friend. What brings you and that nasty looking group here?" Irie questioned, his white hair and blue yukata swaying in the breeze. He seemed like an old samurai who lived through the ages, from Edo till now.

"Them? They're my men- no, not nasty looking at all!"

A few chuckles were made- more noticeably Yano, a _ukaku _ghoul with a gas mask and straight black hair. His black coat was unbuttoned and laid his plain black t-shirt and jeans in the open, to his superior's distaste. The male's blue eyes glinted from behind the mask, giving Irie shivers, though he could not see them.

The shrine's priest was human. And yet, something told him that the group in front of him were menacing ghouls. It must be the gods telling him to do something. His sword, a quinque actually, held a deeper meaning than just a treasure given to him by the mysterious girl by the name of Irina. She came often in the past, always a pure hearted girl who wished for a better world. Suddenly, she stopped coming. And then this overly-enthusiastic girl came in her stead. Too mysterious.

"What do you need, Tokone? I believe it is rather late."

Rather late? More like very late.

During the meeting a few days ago, their team was requested to go on a raid; which was rare because nothing major happened in Kyoto for the longest time. The last time CCG members came for a wide-scale extermination was more than 2 year ago. It wasn't a pleasant memory, considering the choice she had to make.

Maybe that's why they were all assigned here. Everyone in this place has a special connection to this area. It makes them weak, because the reminder of such events make their emotions unstable and haywire. It's harder to control themselves. It's exactly why they're not even close to the top seats of Aogiri Tree; because their emotions are easily manipulated.

Yano's eyes darted towards the shrine, as if scanning carefully for something important. A shadow was seen behind the paper windows, one of a girl with straight long hair. He raised his finger towards her.

"There. That's her." His voice was smooth and cool, and pleasant to listen to. Quite ironic considering his infectious laughter.

"So it's that _miko-san? _I hope she's pretty." Tatsuge chuckled. Yano sighed how the man hadn't gotten rid of his womanising habits, no matter human or ghoul.

"Shut up, Turd-head. We're here for a job, not a bitch for you." Orion snapped. He was the youngest the team; around 16. Despite that, similarly to Ayato (who was a year younger even), he had a sharp tongue. Tatsuge only replied with an annoyed grumble about how overly-serious the kid was.

"What do you need from Luna? She is just a shrine maiden." Irie closed his eyes as he said, sceptical of what they were planning. He knew that the young girl had something special about her.

"You do know that woman works for the CCG during the day, right?" Miharu informed. The priest nodded solemnly. They were definitely ghouls- he guts told him well enough.

"This is just the last place we needed to check." She smiled indignantly. "I'm sorry to stain your grounds Aisaka-san, but just consider it an offering to your gods, won't you?"

* * *

In a flash, Yano had already made his way towards the shrine building. Grunting, Irie pushed his sword towards the girl's neck, having her dodge it in a mere second. An unexpected kick sent him backwards in the opposite direction, giving the excited Tatsuge enough time to reach Yano. Most of the other grunts had been sent back to headquarters because an even larger group would have been alarming for such a place. The only one who stood there with nothing to do was Kokonoe, otherwise known as 'Plastic-kun'. He sat himself under a tree, sighing for his uselessness.

"Plastic-kuuuuun, take this old man awayyyyyyy~" His leader sang oddly, which made him chuckle. Ignoring her sadistic nature, she was kind of cute.

"I-If you say so..."

Orion had taken his back. Damn, this old priest wasn't a joke. He swung his quinqe around skillfully, taking them both at once. Considering that Kokonoe was a_ bikaku _and Orion a _koukaku_, the combination that was usually considered efficient was doing poorly against the _bikaku-ukaku _hybrid. Constantly, spikes would protrude and shoot from the otherwise straight sword, injuring Orion quite a bit, due to his speed.

"Who in the fucking world gave him that quinqe, ugh!" Orion cursed as he bit his lip.

He was old and rusty- being a priest meant that his days as a swordsman would be left behind. And it was, for many years. Irie had aged. But, the fact that he was a master swordsman that fought ghouls in his youth was still true, for history cannot be changed. The skills embedded in his body. This quinqe, ironically named _Dunkelheit, _was absolutely beautiful. It glowed a faint blue light, had great capabilities that could easily be used to it's greatest extend.

* * *

As he tackled down the two teenagers, he had forgotten about something. Tatsuge had mercilessly revealed his _rinkaku, _tossing aside the binds that blocked his view. A woman yelped and jumped backwards in shock, immediately pulling out a pistol when she saw two blackish-red tentacles swirling around in a dance. She gaped at the handsome man, who had equally fiery hair and eyes. He whistled when he saw her, clearly pleased.

"Whew~ Looks like I was correct! Yano, look at this chick!"

"... Yeah, she looks shocked alright."

"No no no, I mean- Cute, right? We have to see that demonic girl everyday so, damn. This. Is. Good."

Said demonic girl, who was actually in her 20s, waved her hand cheerfully at them when she saw his finger pointed at her. And what else was she doing? Observing. Like the usual, she didn't play a part in fights when she saw it as unnecessary.

Luna, the shrine maiden, fit her job description well. She had chocolate brown hair in a hime-cut, round and warm black eyes and a modest chest. Her hair had a simple flower _kamikazari. _She looked stunning in the moonlight. Just that the gun wasn't flattering her outfit, as well as the stern expression on her face.

"_Just do your job, you stupid Turd-head! Stop gawking!" _An annoyed voice rang from the other side of the area. Orion could only clench his teeth again as another merciless attack hit him, this time on the shoulder. He was wearing out due to the weight of his kagune. Looking at Kokonoe, the slightly older boy had managed to knock the man off his feet but he just got up too quickly. Was he even old?

"What do you ghouls need?" Her voice was as cold as her expression. Tatsuge laughed, scratching his hair.

"Ojou-san, I really don't feel like eating you. Right, Yano?" He hummed cheerfully. His partner, Yano, stared back at him blankly through his gas mask before responding.

"Its all up to you...eat, or the camp."

"I'll choose the latter, cause she can be mine then!"

"_Superior's got better chances, don't forget~"_

That came from Miharu. Most certainly he wouldn't be the only one interested in her.

"This is tough..." He grumbled.

Shots came flying towards his direction without a delay. A few _ukaku _blades were jabbed into his shoulder, fading away as it hit him. Tatsuge dramatically touched his injuries, placing on a sobbing expression. The gas-masked ghoul stood there and sighed. He was not much needed right now.

"I won't be nice to the likes of you, Aogiri Tree members."

True to her words, she had equipped a _bikaku _whip on her, ready to hit the _rinkaku _ghoul. Being the 'gentleman' he was, he backed away slightly.

"Oi oi oi, not cool..."

"Tatsuge, you coward." Yano spat. He couldn't take this bull any more.

His _ukaku _shot her several rounds, a few injuring her lightly, while some got deflected by her whip. Slightly flinching, she stepped backwards and flung her whip at them whilst shooting at the womaniser. Tatsuge's _rinkaku _took its time to surprise her from below, wrapping around her waist. Struggling slightly, she continued to shoot at him. His smirk wouldn't go away- it was frustrating. Fortunately, her whip managed to grab at the flying Yano and dragged him onto the ground. She saw that he had spent up most of his energy earlier that day as he mostly did minor damage onto her. His regeneration rate was poor.

"Shit... I'm tired from earlier..."

"We can't even deal with an OLD human PRIEST and a SHRINE MAIDEN. No wonder we're stuck at the 2nd rank!" The red-head exclaimed. It was true- the current team here was the strongest among their whole. But if they cannot handle this much, they would be crushed if put in harder situations, like facing Arima's team.

"Hahhh...our leader has never even revealed her kagune on the battlefield with us at all, just using that _ukaku _and _rinkaku _quinqe that she has..." Yano sighed once more before drawing back. "Tatsuge, it's all up to you."

"You got me," He smirked. The man loved how Luna still struggled in his grasp, her whip dangerously at close range and dodging his face by mere millimetres. "My lady, you're scratching my face!"

"She may be good at creating, but not at fighting." He closed his blue eyes as he heard the screams of a human, though this one was mellow. Even she was fighting to keep her pains to herself. It amused him, but he admired her for such tolerance and determination. "If she were a ghoul, maybe Orion would've made a great partner."

* * *

Her fragile body tumbled onto the ground weakly, her breath shallow. It was clear that she was on the brink of life and death. Hearing that the noise was over, Irie gulped nervously. Luna was down. He was getting tired, though successful in making his two enemies extremely worn out.

"Where are you taking her?!" He yelled, worriedly.

"To camp. She's our toy now; she lost, you failed." Tatsuge raised her body up onto his shoulder in victory.

"Tch... her importance in this shrine...we need a replacement for our _protector..._"

"She's just an object in this place? That's disgusting." Orion spat, though he was panting hard. "But, you were hard. Tokone, do we need him dead?"

"No, looks like he's willing to co-operate. After all, Irina's influenced him quite a bit, hm?"

"...what is your offer, girl?"

"See, I told you~" Miharu hummed in delight.

Orion clenched his teeth together, his pale blue hair sticking to his face. "Humans like you are just awful tasting."

"Now, let us state our offer, hmm?"

* * *

Authors Notes: This chapter kind of broke the mood set up by the previous chapters, I think. This was kind of an 'introduction' for her main team: Yano, Tatsuge, Orion and Kokonoe.

I welcome any advice for improvement, especially since I just threw in 6 OCs here!

R&amp;R greatly appreciated. Thanks for reading!


	4. Stories of the Darkness

**Stories of the Darkness**

_If there was something that was to be told,_

_It would be..._

* * *

Among all the prey gathered up in this forsaken place, there was one who would never back down despite being human. She was not only strong physically and practically fought back any time she could, her words were sharp and stabbed at pride of several ghouls who lacked the education to retort. It earned her several wounds, but still she never stopped. And at night, she would make her way to look at the night sky no matter the punishment the next day, watching it hopefully, praying. Her beautiful skin was torn and her face was scratched. Despite that, her eyes had a fire that would never disappear.

Tatsuge loved to watch her during his free time. The human that he brought here achieved her goal unknowingly- to entertain him. Luckily for the man, the higher-ups had no interest in her. Rather, her behaviour was shunned and a certain fiery teenager hated her to no end. Tonight, too, he'd find himself eyeing her as she stealthily climbed through the vents. This time, she was headed to the rooftop; beating her previous records of reaching the windows on the higher floors. Call him a stalker or what- he'd just want to watch her do her thing.

With her clothes torn and dirty, she looked like a war prisoner-in a way she was one. As the wind hit her face, she couldn't help but to smile. The night sky always made her feel free and light. But it was a bitter-sweet thing. Her time at the shrine and the CCG could never compare to anything. She couldn't bring herself to die. Her duty had not been fulfilled.

"Oh, this is where you went to, Luna-san?"

With a horrified face, she whipped her head around to find Tatsuge smiling at her in most smug manner. The cause of her misery. Luna could only cringe, ready to fight back as he approached her slowly.

"...What?" She stepped back a little as he sat on the ground beside her.

"Hmm? Are you going to sit down or would you rather be eaten?"

Sceptically, she sat down beside him. The last time she'd actually spoke to him was the night she broke a few bones with the force of his kagune.

"I'm not going to be your plaything." She spat spitefully. "I hate you for keeping me here."

"Don't you hate ghouls in general, Miss CCG shrine maiden?" Tatsuge joked. "Unless you have some other reason to kill us?"

"You could say something like that." Tatsuge raised a brow at her comment. "I thought climbing up the ranks of being a researcher, I could learn the reason why ghouls are that way. But I became a weapon manufacturer instead."

"..._you're not lying, are you._" An unexpectedly bitter voice escaped from his lips. Slowly, he brought his hands over her neck.

"Tatsuge-san, you really hate humans don't you."

His naturally red eyes widened, before smiling again.

"I don't regret keeping you here."

* * *

There were loud noises being made in the very same room again. Ayato was still pondering over his encounter with his sister. Her attitude, so different from before. Why did she want peace? Wishing for something that would never come true...just like Arata. It pissed him off to no end.

"Fuck this shit!"

"What shit?"

The last person he'd ever want to see arrived at the room giggled as she made her way towards him. She had something unexpected on her today- her beautiful sword that had a menacing shine to it. Ayato knew who that sword was- no, who that sword is. Basically, he'd rather be careful around the girl right now.

"You know it, bitch. Don't come annoying me with questions you the answer to."

"You mean the fact you've been hiding the truth of your purpose in Aogiri? I know that, sure I do. That's why I don't need to ask, right?"

"What do you know?!" He snapped at her insensitive remark, Miharu smiling in amusement.

"Your sister, who wants to live her own life...giving up yours for hers. How devoted!"

"...you don't know anything." His voice rumbled. His eyes slowly turned red, body trembling. "You don't know anything."

At that moment, the door creaked open, familiar light footsteps and humming getting closer. The two halted their actions and faced the bandaged girl- no other named as Eto.

"Nico told me both of you were getting frustrated, so we figured you guys would fight each other again~"

"Her, frustrated? Sounds like bullshit."

"Well." Miharu swiped a snack out of her pocket. Not a pocky this time. A small chunk of meat was there- tender and savoury. Ayato eyed it as she drew her sword. "You caught me. Cocoa, eat."

In a short moment, her sword transformed into something like a snake, swallowing the chunk whole before going back into its sheath. Eto giggled as she saw how quick it went back.

"Miha, you ought to go check out the humans now, okay? And also..."

Eto stopped her from leaving for a short moment.

"Don't forget that you're a ghoul now."

Miharu closed her eyes, clearly impressed about the girl's perceptive skills. She gave the room one last glance; Ayato cringing at the words that the one-eyed ghoul was telling him. Indeed, they were similar.

* * *

_The old man stood there frowning. He was rather perplexed by a ghoul's way of thinking- some of them were simply closed-minded and some were a bit to curious for their own good. But he knew there were more ghouls that were open to experience and knowledge than humans- in which had a one-sided view about ghouls._

_It was pathetic, he thought. A priest such as him, although devoted to a god, still believes that ghouls have their own minds and hearts. Why ostracise them? Humans kill animals, several of them to survive. It is by right the ghouls have the right to live as well. Or rather, shouldn't humans be helping ghouls by finding out why they can only digest human meat? Everyone would be fighting like idiots if no one stops to think about this._

_At the cost of one disciple. No, she is strong. It may even be considered an infiltration of the building and finding out what was inside. Perhaps, she might even change someone's heart. A strong, righteous woman. No one was better fit for the job. He was waiting for this opportunity, the opportunity to come to a compromise with a ghoul. There she was, a purple-haired ghoul in a blindfold, reaching out her hand to him._

_"I have an offer to give you."_

_Taking her hand may lead to several consequences. But, he didn't mind. Being an old man meant your life is short already- it'll best to see the results._

_"...State your offer."_

_"Well." She coughed, before putting up a smile again._

_"It's simple. Just be a neutral observer. State whatever action you know the humans are taking, or plans they have up their sleeve. It's obvious what your objective is- I like it. So, are you willing to accept?"_

_"Very interesting. I shall accept."_

_"Great!" She swung back to her team-mates, a blue-haired one cringing with contempt. "I look forward to your co-operation."_

* * *

Orion was sitting about, alone at his desk. Tatsuge had went off to flirt with Luna again. Well, he saw that coming anyway. But it was rather irritating that he'd been left to the paperwork. Miharu was on patrol, so she couldn't help him anyway. Their leader, despite her playful behaviour, actually did her job- quickly, even. Yano was out for drinks, much to Orion's upset, being a health junkie and all. Kokonoe... wait. Where was he? And again, the 16 year-old grumbled and cursed under his breathe.

"Damn you all, running away from all the paperwork... Kokonoe, where the fuck are you at?"

As if a miracle, the door was barged open. A giddy figure with purple hair was carrying two bottles of alcoholic blood in her right hand and a knocked out brown-haired boy in her left arm. Behind was a slightly drunk Yano, whose face was now uncovered by the gas mask and a whining Tatsuge.

"Aww Orion, being a grump again. Poor Kokonoe got put off real quick, y'know?" Tatsuge laughed loudly, much to the other's annoyance.

"Shut up Turd-head. This is your stack."

"...CCG is back on their feet and heading to Anteiku." Tatsuge read from the papers. "Hey, that's where the peace-lovin' ghouls are at right? Did they do something or what?"

"Ohhhhh. Very interesting." Yano's blue eyes perked up as he heard Tatsuge read the rest of the news. "This is from the priest? Useful."

"This is going to be a war~ A massive one~" Miharu sung. "Yoshimura, Touka, Eyepatch... all in one? I'm excited!"

Turmoil and conflicting rules, emotions and morals are interesting. Its the awesome chaos that's there, much more fun and exciting than anything else. Miharu knew all their back stories and their motives.

It just made things better for her.

* * *

Authors Notes: Sorry for the late update! My computer crashed on me several time while I was writing- and ended up losing my original file eventually. I hope you enjoyed this chapter!

R&amp;R greatly appreciated!


	5. Humouring the Darkness

**Humouring**** the Darkness**

_It was about time they met.  
All the lost and disoriented ones gather._

* * *

His hair had grown white from the gruesome suffering he received. The hardships he had to go through in that place was... just that horrible. But, it made him realise. Realise that he was truly a monster, and there was nothing else he actually was any more. So he embraced this truth.

It become who he is today.

The place that contained his warmest memories was now a battlefield. Once again, he is losing what he treasures. But he knew. He knew he had to do something. Not again will he cower away from death.

Because it is reality.

Therefore he shall fight as well. They may or may not know he is here, but it is fine. All he wanted to was to protect what he cherished. In front of him was that CGG officer he kept encountering.

"Eye-patch!"

His voice was full of emotion. They have stolen much from each other. Perhaps they were fated to fight each other again. Both had something to fulfil. A duty to fulfil. Readying their weapons, they eyed each other carefully.

And the fight begun.

* * *

Since the "Eye-patch" only covers one eye, "Blindfold" covers both. Not that she was blind, though. A smirk latched onto her lips as she watched the two clash violently. Watching Amon fight was an old habit, and it was coming back again. Along with the nostalgic feeling was the adrenaline of action. The gas-masked ghoul beside her sighed at her behaviour.

"Kaichou, I know we were assigned here but... aren't you getting to hyped over this?"

"Yano, you gotta enjoy life as much as possible~" His leader cheerfully responded. "YOLO, y'know!"

"...I only recently got to know of online abbreviations, so please don't use it so much." Yano grumbled. He barely touched any technology since birth, but now that he had to blend in with humans, he needed to learn.

A shadow crept up behind a pillar close to the two ghouls, readying itself. It stood still, eavesdropping on their conversation.

"I'm looking forward to see the winner~" Miharu hummed. Yano frowned at whatever she was planning, clearly not pleased with the direction of her thoughts.

"Hold up. What are you planning?"

"Hmmm? I just wanna congratulate him and stuff-"

"Don't meddle in too much. We're not here for that." He huffed. "Do your job properly."

* * *

A young woman closed her eyes, sitting dangerously on a scaffold. She was wearing her shrine maiden outfit at the command of her 'master'- obviously Tatsuge. But she thought it was much better than being in ragged pieces of cloth. She couldn't believe that the frivolous man meant it when he said he'd take her out.

She could watch her fellow CCG members fight. She could analyse the situation and do something about it. Also...she had much higher chances of escaping. Luna was no amateur in fighting, or escaping in this case. But there was a problem.

Here she was, listening to his comrades talk. On an extremely dangerous platform. Secondly, she was chained to him. Literally. It proves a disadvantage to him when fighting, but Tatsuge was set on keeping her around. Catching her gazing up at his face, Tatsuge laughed.

"What? Getting charmed by my beautiful face?"

"No. I was just thinking."

The shrine maiden cringed as she saw the fight. The man's arm made its way to the side walk of the road, bleeding excessively. Yet, he was driven with absolute power to win. She reached her hand towards him, but she was too far. Her breath hitched as she saw the white-haired ghoul approach him slowly.

"Oho? Amon is losing?" The purple haired girl commentated excitedly as she spectated the fight. Even the black haired gas-masked teen was obviously getting into it despite complaining earlier.

"...she knows him?" Luna questioned.

"I believe he was mentioned in that old man's report." Tatsuge nodded as he rubbed his chin. "That priest is very observant!"

"Priest...Irie-san? No wonder."

Yano looked back to see two figures talking. He noticed that they were there for a while, but he never expected Tatsuge to bring a human prisoner out like that. Not to mention, a CCG member that had attempted to kill them before. Seeing the red-head's expression, he smiled bitterly.

_Things aren't going to end well for them._

* * *

With his enemy's weapon destroyed and his left arm gone, Kaneki was positive that it was his win. But, he knew it wasn't going to end there. Not far off was a comrade, who threw two cases at Amon. The man quickly grabbed them and now donned an armour and a new quinqe.

With one hit, the half-ghoul was knocked unconscious.

Although Amon was thinking that he could finally have a talk with Eye-patch, he saw that it wasn't going to happen soon.

The ghoul went out of control, hitting him relentlessly. Fatigued and without an arm, the officer retaliated as much as he could. As they fought, he saw that his team was further and further away. He no longer had the support of his comrades.

Seeing an opening, Amon launched his weapon into the side of Kaneki's body, completely removing it. The fight still continued, both of them not stopping until the other falls.

He dropped onto the ground. In his mind was his foster father, oddly enough. Amon had so many things to say to the Eye-patch. He had mixed emotions about ghouls; his foster father was a horrible man, he had been deceived by ghouls. And he fell unconscious.

The white-haired boy regained his sanity. His face clearly said that he had regretted his own actions. After all, he went beserk. Recovering from his fatal injury with his Rc cells, Kaneki brought Amon to the side walk, where his comrades would most likely find him at.

He was going to leave when he saw a figure in the middle of the road. Going closer, he saw a girl with straight purple hair with a piece of black cloth covering her eyes. She wore a simple black coat and smiled at him widely. Kaneki was cautious of her- he knew she was a ghoul.

Without a word, he continued walking.

"Congratulations of defeating Amon! I have to say that it was kind of you to put him a side like that." Her voice was as cheerful as he expected.

"Who are you?" Kaneki coldly asked.

"Erhhh, I'm Enokoto Urahime!" Miharu responded, reversing her name on purpose.

"... what do you want from me?" This girl was too suspicious.

"Well." She mused. "What do you desire?"

"What are you-"

"Is it that false tranquillity by killing you seek? Protecting, you might say. Or a life where you can smile all day? Well, you've lost many things. Be today your greatest loss so far."

"What do you know?" Kaneki already had enough of this stranger who acted as if she knew everything about him. "I need to leave."

"Listen well as you leave, boy. You are a being of both worlds. Make use of it- it is not only a curse. If you simply give in to one side, it is your loss. Simply indulging in one side when you can have both is ridiculous."

He stopped to think. As he turned around to ask more questions from her, she had already left the isolated road.

* * *

"That was unnecessary." Orion huffed. "Captain, are you listening?"

"Yes?" Miharu raised a brow at the 16 year-old.

"Its fine, isn't it?" Kokonoe smiled weakly at Orion's glare. "Besides... if Kaichou is deprived of excitement, things would've been worse."

"Excatly Orion-kun, so you don't have to such a hard ass~" Tatsuge laughed.

"Shut up Turd-head. You brought a freaking human out to the battlefield whilst **being chained together. **We're not here for that kind of shit, stop doing it." He spat. "Kokonoe, you're being too nice. Buck up a bit."

"Hmm." Yano had removed his gas-mask. He was thinking deeply about the fight. "We have killed quite a bit. The Eyepatch is going to be important. Yoshimura is dead and its right about time we formulate a plan using...her."

"You mean me." Luna frowned at him. "I'm not here to-"

"Awwww, c'mon. You told me something earlier." Tatsuge pulled her onto his lap. "Right?"

"Ugh. Anyway, just continue doing what you're doing. Orion's plans are doing well enough."

"What makes you say so?" Orion was sceptical of her answer.

"Currently, there are 6 people including me. We are in pairs- me and Tatsuge, Orion and Kokonoe, Yano and Tokone. I am human, but I can provide information and my personality stops Tatsuge from going off-track. We are chained but Tatsuge is a _rinkaku _which has a long range. Orion is _koukaku _and Kokonoe is _bikaku. _Your combination is good and both of you fought Irie-san, so I can gauge your abilities quite well. Yano and Tokone are a unique pair. They are by far the strongest in the team, but the important thing is their personalities." She paused.

"Yano can handle Tokone well and vice-versa. Well, Tokone is rather mysterious in terms of everything. She knows alot about the CCG, uses quinqes and has the physical prowess of a ghoul, which makes her extremely efficient. Yano is a limiter to her. He also improvises plans specific to the both of them- only for the both of them because they are often paired together."

"..." Orion breathed in deeply. "You're very observant."

"You like her now?" Yano grinned.

"Kinda. She's serious unlike some people." Orion glared at Tatsuge and Miharu, both of them snickering for no particular reason.

"Why are you helping us? We are part of the Aogiri Tree which you hate so much." Kokonoe had to ask. It had been on his mind for a while.

"I'm not helping Aogiri Tree." She said firmly. "I'm helping you. I can clearly see that you all have different purposes of being here. Especially...Tokone. She's so carefree and acts upon her own will."

"I may like you a bit now, but it doesn't mean I trust you yet." Orion reminded her.

"Same here." She answered coolly.

"Well guys, we must head to the main action now." Miharu stood up, putting her coat back on.

"To Anteiku!"

* * *

Authors Notes: My computer completely died this time round, so I tried my best to fix it. I'm late again Q_Q

Btw, Enokoto Urahime= Otokone Emiharu= Tokone Miharu X'D Just needed to get it out there. Also, Miharu is in her 20s, keep that in mind.

Thanks for reading! R&amp;R appreciated.


	6. Game of the Darkness

**Game of the Darkness**

_Simple rules._

_Just fight._

* * *

A black-haired boy, around the age of 17, crouched inside a large case. It was his place of refuge whenever he'd wanted to think, relax, or just ponder about what was going to happen in an hour. His eyes were shade of sapphire blue, but he didn't like them. It was a curse to him- it made him more obvious than the others and he would need to run away again. It never did him any good.

But today, he was inside this cramped box for another reason. His parents were screaming for him, frantically running around the abandoned warehouse they resided in. And then newer footsteps were heard. It was an instant that the noise died down- it was finished off by the sounds of gunshot, slicing and the end of heartbeats.

The teenager had to admit that his parents ate much more than they needed too. They also brought him as much trouble as his eyes did, and it was rather...irritating. Someday he'd actually planned to kill them but someone did it in his stead. But considering that the 'someone' was human, it meant the end of him as well. He had nowhere to go.

It came closer to him. With his final weapon out and equipped, his eyes changed from blue to red. Both colours were horrible. And then the box was opened. But then nothing hit him, nor did nothing hit the human.

"Hello there. I've killed your parents." The girl laughed, blood smeared all over her body. "I came specifically to tell you, y'know?"

She seemed around his age. But what he knew was that this human girl was out of her mind, and couldn't possibly be a CCG member. He frowned and shot a few rounds of his ukaku, though she simply whacked it all away with a sword. Surprised, he tumbled backwards, the box following him at his feet.

"If you want to kill me, do it already." He said darkly. "It's not like I want to live running away from monsters all the time."

"Oh?" It seemed that his words caught her attention. "That's a new perspective. I like it."

"What...?" The ghoul was confused. This girl was clearly out of her mind. "Are you even human?"

"Yeap." She responded back with a funny expression. "You don't seem to have a name, so...let's go with Yano! Yeah!"

"I don't need one..." He mumbled, clearly disturbed by her. She still was pointing her sword at him either way.

"Miharu? Are you done? Or is there something more there?" A lower voice echoed through the room. It was Amon, waiting impatiently for her outside.

"Run along now." Miharu smiled, clearly amused by their meeting. "Do it quickly, 'kay?"

Yano left without question. He was pretty fast on his feet. Besides, he had to run from so many CCG officers since he was a kid. Looking back, the purple-haired investigator laughed as the man reprimanded her, a glint from her hazel eyes that represented that her plans had started to turn in motion.

* * *

Now observing the battlefield, Yano eyed Miharu as she collected the corpses of humans. It was a reminder that they didn't rank too high up. But she was strong- it was just them that was pulling her down. As a runner, he didn't do too well in combat. It was natural that his rank wasn't even an S in the CCG database.

They had watched the final moments of the fight between Eto and Arima before they fled the scene, not wanting to be slaughtered by the living demon. She had swallowed Yoshimura whole and escaped, fulfilling their duties. Now there was only one thing left to do. Grab as many bodies as possible and get the hell out of here.

Arima was in dangerous proximity to them everytime, and the person who be in greatest danger...would be Miharu. If they saw the missing CCG officer as a half-ghoul it would be too much of a shock. Akira and Arima wouldn't hesitate to pummel a hole in her body- they didn't like her from the start either way.

In the team, only Yano knew that she was human. And it was only because of that encounter, in which she saved his life that he knew.

* * *

Akira gulped. At first she just thought she was seeing things as she looked up at a wrecked building. It was a situation where everyone needed to be on-guard. She couldn't be hallucinating at such a time. But when she blinked again and checked her surroundings, the figure atop the destruction still remained. _Hate._

Purple flowing hair, not too long nor short. A blindfold over her eyes, completely cladded in black. Yes, it was the mysterious ghoul nicknamed Blindfold (Mekakushi). But Akira knew who was behind that mask. That smile, that weapon...that habit.

Who else would it be other than the missing Tokone Miharu? But no one could ever be sure. With the physical attributes of a ghoul as well as regenerating quickly with Rc cells, it was simply clear the she was a ghoul. But Miharu was no ghoul despite her skills. It made Akira question a lot of things: but that was not the problem at hand.

"Mado Akira, 2nd Rank! May I break from formation to look for Amon Koutarou?"

She looked at him as if he were insane.

"What are you saying? You-"

"I'm sorry!" The male bowed before leaving as fast as possible.

"TAKIZAWA!" Misato screamed, watching the investigator run off.

And there he left. Akira felt horrible. More horrible than she ever did before. As he disobeyed their orders and ran off to find his superior, Akira could only continue her duty. Looking up at the building again, she saw the ghoul's expression change, before running off in Takizawa's direction.

_My intuition tells me that this is going to end up horribly._

_There's nothing I can do here, is it?_

* * *

Miharu stared blankly as a gruesome scene befolded before her. Two people she was fond of years ago were standing right there. Amon. Takizawa. But the person about to be in front of them was her current leader: Tatara. Honestly, Miharu could hold him off long enough if she tried. But was it worth risking her plans?

Definitely not.

Besides, Miharu wasn't human anymore. She'd be nothing but an enemy if she'd just appear like that- dressed in total black, blindfolded and smeared with blood. On CCG files, Blindfold was an ukaku type, thanks to using _Irina _most of the time. Miharu didn't use _Cocoa _agaisnt humans- it'd bust her cover either way.

"A-Amon-san! P-please...please don't die..." He sobbed as he saw how serious Amon's injuries were.

"I won't...or else, _he _would end up as a murderer..." The older man responded weakly.

Fortunately for them, Squad 4 had stumbled into them right at this scene.

"Get the radio. Koutarou Amon is fatally injured." Mutsumi commanded in a serious manner. The squad obeyed, quickly whipping up the radio.

"Hello this is Squad 4-"

It was that moment. Miharu watched with anticipation as Tatara and the other Aogiri members ambushed them, beginning to fight with the investigators. The members of Squad 4 were getting eliminated one by one.

Takizawa watched on in horror as he saw their limbs get torn in front of him. It was as if death was taunting him slowly about his own. No. He didn't want to die. Not today, not here, not by- No. Amon still needed help. But...

They were all dead. Only he was left to these gruesome ghouls. 1 person. His teeth chattered and a deathly cold feeling envoloped him. Once he knew it, his feet were already stoned. Takizawa was afraid. Fearful of the situation, he froze up.

"Go..." Amon got up on his feet, though unsteady as he had a missing arm. "Go, Takizawa. I'll deal with them."

Despite his injures, Amon still wanted to protect his comrade. He knew that the 2nd Rank officer was afraid despite his complaints about wanting to fight more.

"But Amon-san, your injuries- you can't! You can't do this!" Takizawa wailed hysterically.

"Don't worry... I can do this much."

"No! Please, you can't die!" He cried out, so afraid to the point he had soiled himself.

_"Takizawa, you're scared. Well, you were always afraid of death." _A familiar voice echoed in his head, far and distant. His eyes widened as he looked around, now not frozen. Black cloaked ghouls. Ghouls. It surrounded him, every possible way of death. But...if Amon can still stand despite his awful injuries, there's much more he could do.

Encouraged by the tenacity in his superior's actions, Takizawa began shooting with his quinqe _Douhi. _He had successfully killed some of them with this action. But the quinqe itself did him no good.

Miharu frowned. She recognised that weapon, when Tatara saw it when they were fighting Houji, his reaction was the worst. And his hate for Houji is abnormal- it's just too strong for even her to be safe to watch the fight nearby. _Shit, Takizawa is-_

"You...that is Fei's kagune." Tatara's eyes were bloodshot, staring at Takizawa. "Its Houji's quinqe. **Are you Houji's subordinate? Where is Yan?**"

The poor human was grabbed up by his collar. But knowing Takizawa, the response wasn't very desirable.

"L-LET GO OF ME!" He screamed.

Tatara simply looked at him with dead eyes. "Very well. Noro, do it."

As the white haired ghoul threw the investigator mid-air, everything was played in slow-motion. Noro's kagune made its way to Takizawa's side, obliterating his left arm completely. He could only stare at his wound in absolute horror before he landed on the ground, passing out.

Amon watched. His emotions built upon each other one by one as his friend tumbled onto the cold road. Screeching in rage, he lifted Doujima with his only availiable arm, eyes full of tears of fury. Tatara chuckled, completely amused by his futile actions.

* * *

"Will this be the end of their game? No...that's unlikely." The blindfolded girl smiled wryly at the two unmoving people at her feet. She kneeled close to them, looking at their faces. "Well, Tatara. What did you need me for?"

"I need you to collect them before heading to Eto." He ordered, giving her a curious look. No reaction to their downfall, oddly enough. "Report there with your team, or at least Yano."

"Roger~"

He gave her one more glance before disappearing into the shadows. Sighing, she counted the amount of bodies gathered up on the road.

"Nope, only them."

"Kaichou." Yano appeared in front of her, his voice as cool as usual. "I overheard. Let's start this. By the way..."

"We'll probably have to go there ourselves because the other four are occupied." She answered, concentrating to see his eyes through the mask he had.

"...Right. Speaking of which, you were getting a bit tense at watching them die. Were you related to them?"

"Hehe. You can say so." Miharu giggled, carrying Takizawa carefully as she called for her own pawns to collect the others. "They're interesting."

Yano could only gulp at the sight of her bloodstained figure, holding the man tightly as if he were her possession. This was Miharu in the past- not her current self. Disturbed and annoyed by her swap of personality, he took Takizawa away from her, handing his unconscious body over to another ghoul.

"You're living in this reality now...Miharu." Yano closed his eyes as he held out his hand to hold hers.

"I know." She responded to his gesture, happily taking his hand.

* * *

Author's Note: Writer's block. Happens everytime. I need more people to give me proper critique, but it doesn't seem very possible -.-" Also, Yano's flashback is two years prior to the current events. Miharu is 23 years-old, the same as Eto. She's the oldest member of her group.

Thank you for reading! R&amp;R NEEDED BADLY. MUCH APPRECIATED.


	7. Relinquish in the Darkness

**Relinquish in the Darkness**

_A place where all things connect.  
The place that broke and saved them._

* * *

"Can't I be a researcher instead?"

Luna's hair was tied up into a ponytail and a lab coat was draped over her shoulders. The man beside her sighed, placing a hand on her head in efforts to ease her apparent anger. She couldn't understand why she was placed in this department- it wasn't what she trained for.

"Sorry Luna-chan... they said that we didn't have enough people to help out here, so they assigned you here." His voice was slightly quivering as she saw her shake in anger. "You were the only one who had the qualifications..."

"Okazu, you make it sound like it's your fault."

"But the researching facility that you wanted to be in had around the same numbers as us!" Okazu had to refrain himself from getting to emotional. "I think its because they have a _young genius _with them."

"...the decisions are final. There's nothing we can do about it. Why not take me around for a tour?"

The green-haired man could only nod at her request, taking her to see the different facilities. Her flushed face was a little distracting; he was concerned for her well-being. Her dreams just got crushed, after all. Okazu didn't know what to do, either than converse with her like he always did.

"Say, Okazu." She had a look of curiosity on her face. "I wonder how ghouls are actually like."

He smiled bitterly at her, though it went unnoticed. There were things that cannot be known, and are better left that way. As they watched the process of the others transforming kagunes in quinqes, Okazu's eyes flashed red for a second.

"I wonder."

* * *

The labs were filled with corpses, freshly collected from the battlefield. Miharu dumped the last of the bodies on the ground, wiping a ragged cloth on her clothes to get rid of the blood. Luckily, the material she uses is easily cleaned. But that wasn't main point here.

"Well, well. We have someone interesting here, right Miharu?" Kano chuckled, pointing to Amon and Takizawa, who were side-by-side. "What do you say? Will they remain the way like you did?"

"Shut up, old geezer." Her brown eyes showed him no mercy. It was similar to the time where she had to kill Irina. "I'm out of here."

"Going back already?"

"What else?"

"2nd-ranked commander of the Kyoto Prefecture. How ironic."

The girl stared at the two dying men before turning away. Eto was waiting for her at the doorway, along with Tatara. Ayato was still somewhere else in the facility.

"Miha~ Good job!" Eto hummed as she clung onto Miharu's arm. "We are going to get Ayato, then return to the headquarters for a meeting. Then, you're needed back at Kyoto. So it'll be awhile till we meet again!"

"I do remember you requiring to do a book signing at Kyoto."

"Awww, you spoiled the fun."

* * *

Orion was busy with gathering the members of their prefecture and making sure he brought the efficient ones over. In no way would he bring someone untrained to that place, even though now could be considered a "safe period" with the massacre of several investigators, quite a few Rank 1 ones were taken down. But there was another issue bugging him as well.

Their base was the place which kept both ghoul and human prisoners. Sure, they could be brought out with someone with power, but a certain somebody certainly wasn't too high up to bring _her _out into another prefecture. But that man wasn't simply taking no as an answer.

It was crazy enough that he brought an imprisoned CCG personal to a war. And now he wants her to be by his side almost every second of his life. Orion only personally knew Tatsuge for 3 years, so it was not his right to judge his unnatural attachment, but it was common sense to know that _ghouls and humans just cannot be together._

"This is absurd. I'm responsible for her, and I can't take her out. What, I haven't proved enough?! She didn't attempt to kill any of us, and even kept the doves away. This bullshit-"

A wall was harshly broken with the force of his punch, cracking the bones in his knuckles. Luna...Luna...why was she so important to him now? He could never understand the feelings raging up in him like a storm.

"Tatsuge-san. I know you're angry you can't bring me along but...why are you so angry?" Luna asked.

"Luna..." His voice was slightly cracked. "Say the name first human man that comes to mind."

"What are you planning? You aren't going to kill the person right?"

"No...just hearing a new name will ease my anger..."

"Um." She gulped nervously. He was weird, to have his anger to soothed like that. But she understood that he would be happy to learn more about her. "...Okazu..."

Kokonoe's ears perked up at the name. At the same time, Miharu seemed to have remembered the name, putting her hands together as if she came up with an idea.

"He had green hair and eyes like Kokonoe..." She mumbled to herself. "But one day, he was out with the investigators and he...never came back."

"Okazu...? Wasn't he a ghoul?" Orion had hopped into the conversation, not understanding the insecurity in the atmosphere. "Right, Kokonoe? Okazu was your-"

"_Nii-san._" An unexpectedly cold voice rang in the air. "_Nii-san, he got killed by doves._"

"_Even when he helped them. Just because we're like that, no one trusts us. Killed by them, doves. That person, that person who killed him. I. Must. Find-_"

"Plastic-kun~" Miharu had returned from her meeting with Eto and the others. Her perky attitude destroyed Kokonoe's moment of relapse, shocking him slightly as she jumped on him.

"Ka-Kaichou..." He looked down to see the glinting sword by her side. As much as he didn't like quinqes, _Cocoa _was in a way still alive, so he didn't mind her having it. The blue shine from it seemed to comfort him.

"We're heading to Kyoto soon. Tatsuge, if you wish to bring Luna along... how about you talk to Eto?"

"Akuryou*, are you serious?! I can't-"

"What~?" She started pushing him out of the door along with Luna. "Leader's orders. Don't come back to us until you've done it."

"AKURYOU-!" And it ended with a kick that sent him outside. Luna could only nod at Miharu for what seemed like her concern before leaving the room.

"..." Kokonoe stared at the closed door in silence. It was a while since he got into a state like that.

"Be careful, Plastic-kun. You were about to kill her."

"I-I'm sorry, Kaichou. But, I have a question for you... why do you use quinqes all the time?"

"Because her kagune is troublesome." Yano quickly answered, seeing to reason for Miharu herself to answer- she looked like she was going to say something to confuse the distraught boy. But the truth is that even he himself never saw her kagune- the very best he saw was her kakugan.

"Hah... either way, we've all ended up in Aogiri Tree." Orion cringed as if he hated this place. "A place like this..."

"Hehe, we're forsaken alright." Miharu giggled as if it were all a joke. It was kind of true though- she'd be dead if she didn't accept to be here.

There are things which cannot be obtained. Forbidden love, utopia, friendships, peaceful lives... things that people wish for deeply. But sometimes, the place that destroys these wishes form more attainable goals.

"Yeah..." Kokonoe's eyes lingered at his leader's mysterious form, hoping that she would be the light at the end of his dark tunnel.

* * *

Authors Notes: *Akuryou stands for Evil Spirit in Japanese.

Let the flashbacks flow. Following chapters will obviously be more about my OCs (mainly Tatsuge, Luna &amp; Kokonoe), so sorry if you wanted to skip the re: timeline right after the battle. May be able to update more frequently now.

Thank you for reading!

R&amp;R extremely APPRECIATED!


	8. Relief in the Darkness

**Relief in the Darkness  
**_Sometimes uncomforting things  
become comforting eventually.  
_

* * *

Maybe it's time to truly realise that nothing in this world is free. Even though we repeat it to ourselves so many times, day by day, we still seem not to understand the meaning of this phrase. And we become idealistic and lose ourselves into our own reality until it finally hits you like an uncontrollable vehicle. Some don't even understand after they die. But, I don't regret this sinful wish of mine. So, my brother, even though you cannot hear my voice- I still want the ghouls and humans to unite with each other. I hope she will tell you what I've said.

I hope you'll understand that my death wasn't for nothing.

* * *

Still shackled, Luna travelled by the land vehicle that the group owned. She felt a little uncomfortable where she was- the only person she knew in the car now was Tatsuge, who was still silently cursing Miharu, and the other three were people she'd never seen before. Orion, Yano, Kokonoe and Miharu had all left on foot. She was slightly regretful for this, since she was in the car partially because of Kokonoe's outburst. But still, she never knew Okazu, her kind-hearted friend, was a ghoul.

Actually, it didn't come as too much of a surprise. He was unusually accepting of the views she had, and was obviously attached to her for the very reason that she was a neutral party. But, she could finally solve the puzzle. The CCG eventually caught him and killed him. He might as well have sacrificed himself for it. Luna had a gut feeling that it was the _prodigy's _team who did it, but who knows? She could be wrong.

Getting to Kyoto would take around and hour or more. Glancing beside her, Tatsuge stared at the windscreen blankly, as if he didn't want to go back there. She knew all of them had horrible memories there. Besides, they made horrible memories for her there, too. But that wasn't all there was to Kyoto. She was happy. But can these ghouls feel the same happiness?

A smug look formed on his face. Perhaps it's possible.

* * *

"Kaichou, how did Cocoa come about?"

"He was a dying idiot you see, so this was the only way about to somehow keep him alive."

"So how does he communicate with you?"

"I just read his body language. He knows what I say well enough so I just talk normally."

"Then, how did he look like when…he was still a ghoul?"

"He wasn't too tall nor did he look mature…I think he dyed his hair too."

"Oh…"

Miharu was obviously keeping the features of this ghoul as vague as possible, much to Kokonoe's disappointment. He thought that maybe, just maybe- that Cocoa might be his brother. But to him his brother was mature, and wasn't someone who would dye his hair. So he just concluded that Cocoa was someone he never knew anyway.

"Orion, how far ahead are the rest?" Yano stared at the less populated city ahead.

"They're 2 kilometers behind us."

"…vehicles are slow."

"I think we're the ones being too fast."

* * *

The headquarters in Kyoto was rather small compared to the one in Tokyo. Obviously. But at the same time, it was much fancier- they lived in a large traditional Japanese home with things like shi-shi odoshi and a bonsai garden. It was to merge with the surroundings, and to of course, do work in peace (to Orion's pleasure). To be honest, they were mainly in charge of passing information, not killing.

Miharu went back to the room she shared with Yano, colouring the top of her hair black, leaving the tips purple. Her attire was no longer a long black coat but just a casual white t-shirt with a top hat on it, denim shorts and a military trench coat to finish it off. A wry smile appeared on her lips when she whipped out a camera.

Yano had removed his gas-mask and coat as well. He watched his leader deal with her human disguise, somehow interested in how she managed to dye her hair- he'd never saw how it was done before. Although he disliked humans in general, he had to admit that they had some innovative things that he enjoyed using too. In his hands was a magazine with the title "Ichisenchi" (One Centimeter), with the page flipped to a featured journalist: Enokoto Urahime. She was well known for reporting about the places CCG raids have taken place at and publicizing Takatsuki Sen, the famous author.

He himself was just a home-schooled teenager, or rather, a shut-in. What else did he know than do work for the Aogiri Tree when his life was spent on running away? Yano had no choice but to be spoon-fed with money from Miharu because he was helpless in the human society.

"Kaichou, Luna-san needs to see you later…" Kokonoe peered in from the door, slightly cringing as he mentioned her name. His feelings of hate hadn't dissipated yet.

"Okay! Tell Tatsuge and Orion that we'll be gathering tonight. We're gonna pay that priest another visit."

"For more info on the Goudou-ya incident right?"

"Yeah. But for now, I need to work~ Time to take some pictures of Goudou-ya! Yano, please come too!"

"Mm."

"See you later, Kaichou and Yano-san."

* * *

The traditional Japanese sweets store was obviously turned into a pile of wreckage. Miharu or rather, Urahime whipped out her camera to take a few pictures. She zoomed into a certain pile, most likely the previous entrance door, with an abnormal amount of blood on it. It would be 30 minutes before the CCG pulls her away from here, so she carefully but hurriedly tried to take the pictures.

"Oi Journalist, you better leave this place quick. This isn't some money making playground for you. Hey you sir, tell your friend to hurry up." A pissed investigator yapped as he made rude gestures towards Miharu.

Ignoring him, the journalist moved a little of the debris away to reveal the still intact hallways and rooms. She sniffed the air, and knowingly moved towards her target. In the kitchen, was a corpse of a ghoul still not cleared, his head detached. Miharu just snorted at the fact that she needed to censor it later. But that wasn't what she needed here.

Reaching out into the pockets of the dead ghoul, she retrieved a small key. 15 minutes left. With quick footsteps, she headed towards the closet room and opened it with the key. Another corpse was there; just that it was human this time. She ignored it and headed right to the corner.

"Found you."

She grabbed the knife that was glinting on the ground, slipped it into her coat and left the scene. 5 minutes left. Miharu pulled herself up onto the open area, where Yano was still talking and distracting the officer.

If she could, she'd had eaten the investigator right there and then. But other than that, this knife would either bring fortune or misfortune. This quinqe. She'll hand it over to Luna and see what the human would do with it.

* * *

Authors Notes: Homework sucks. Luckily I'm back here again, after how long- a month or so? Yeah. I'm just gonna state their ages here from oldest to youngest- Miharu (23), Tatsuge (21), Luna (21), Yano (19), Kokonoe (19), Orion, (17). Considering that I actually split this chapter up, next one should be up around soon. Well lucky you, because updated stories are much appreciated right?

Thanks for reading! R&amp;R is damn appreciated man. Really.


	9. Order of the Darkness

**Order of the Darkness**

_Little do they know...  
It's all part of the knight's plan._

* * *

"You can't be serious."

Luna stared at the weapon in her hands, holding back the tears in her eyes. In front of her was Miharu, smiling brightly as if she had given an innocent birthday present instead. Or money. Money sounded good.

"What's wrong, Luna? I collected it from Goudo-ya."

That was the problem. This dagger, which was a quinqe, belonged to one of Okazu's best friends back in the CCG, who was a Rank 1 investigator... If it was in Goudo-ya, it meant that he was dead.

"So, you want me to analyse it. Okay, this...belongs to Rank 1 investigator, Soida. It is a koukaku and is generally used for one-hit kills and was made by... Okazu. It was a gift to Soida since they were best friends."

"That's an interesting back story! Goudo Soida, huh. We'll ask Aisaka-san about him. But, that's not the only reason why I'm handing you this."

"What do you mean?" Luna felt a cold feeling envelope her as Miharu grinned widely.

"You'll be having that."

"What!? Won't Kokonoe be more suspicious if-"

"You can kill him with that if you can."

Her eyes widened. Miharu was definitely very caring and affectionate to her subordinates no matter their personalities- you could even call her relationship with Ayato tough love, but Kokonoe- it was obvious that she was an emotional anchor for him. And then Miharu said that Luna was free to kill him. This was absurd. Was she this cruel from the start?

"He's your comrade, how could you say that? I giving this back-"

She couldn't. Luna felt the weight of the dagger forcing her to keep it. In a way, it was her memento of both Okazu and Soida. But if it's purpose was to kill meaninglessly...

"You disappear, Tatsuge goes crazy. Plastic-kun disappears, group morality is significantly lowered forever. Tatsuge disappears, you go crazy and Orion is burdened with work load forever. But, that dagger is more than that. I'm not planning to kill anyone~"

"A quinqe is more than a weapon...?"

"It is up to you to think that way. Irina and Cocoa are my companions to me, not just a weapon. But I knew them. But for you, that dagger is a gift, is it not? What do you make of it?"

"It's very important." Luna whispered. "Miharu-san, I think it's a clue."

"Right?"

"You seem to already know the answer to Okazu's death..."

Miharu gave a hearty laugh, before standing up from her seat. Her eyes told everything.

"Hahaha! That's because I do!~"

* * *

Orion eyed Tatsuge and Kokonoe from where he was. They were now in the living room, with nothing to do since they had completed their work early and was just waiting to head out to the shrine. But oddly, there was no apparent strain between the two of them.

"Kokonoe, what do you think of Akuryou?"

"Eh? Er, Kaichou is...she's a very mysterious but energetic person. She knows how to make everybody relaxed despite the situation..."

"Ehhhh, so you don't think she's a demon spawn who came to earth for the sake of mass murder and demonic ulterior motives such as world domination?"

"Well she can be that way, but admit it- she treats us very nicely even though she hides a lot of things from us."

"And that can mean she's trying to get us on her good side before using us as pawns for world domination! WORLD DOMINATION!"

"I'm pretty sure she's not up for world domination! But it'll be nice if she trusted us more..."

"Yeah, I mean she's already known us for a year... but she only seems more open with Yano and Eto..."

"Sorry for cutting in your conversation, but don't you think Luna has been a bit frisky since Miharu and Yano came back?" Orion's kakugan was visible, much to the other two's surprise. "On the topic of the Captian, I'm pretty sure she's told Luna a few unnecessary details, especially since Yano is out buying coffee now."

"Oh man, I'm sure alright... hey Kokonoe. The thing with Luna, please don't kill her..."

"I don't know, Tatsuge. I don't want to hurt you, but I _hate her. _But nii-san treasured her alot. So, I..."

Kokonoe held onto his yukata tightly. She didn't kill him, but was a major part of the reason why he was dead. He stayed on, because of _her. _It wouldn't be a surprise if he were to sacrifice himself for her safety. But most importantly, with her current behaviour, she seemed to have found out something.

And he'll do whatever to take that information from her.

* * *

_Meanwhile..._

"Yano-kun, your eyes are sooooo beautiful! Oh my gosh, I love half-foreign men!" Yomiko, a human student, hopped around the poor ghoul as he tried to get out of the cafe as soon as possible.

Miharu often told him that he was good-looking with his long black hair (that covered his eyes) and blue eyes, but this girl was just crazy over him. Every time he came by here this happened, which was why he wanted Miharu to come with him. But of course, she had better things to do. He stared at the shop-keeper, who was the father of this girl, for help. The man was amused, but decided to help him either way.

"Haha, sorry Yano-kun for my daughter's behaviour. You're not here with Miha-san today?"

"No, she's working now."

"Right, she works for Ichisenchi, so she must be busy. Come by here with her soon, I'd like to have a chat with the 3 of us together!"

"Dad, what about me?"

"Did you know that the CCG had a very big fight in Tokyo?"

"CCG?! Nonononono, I never heard you say anything! What's the CCG?" She shook her father's hand away from her shoulder before bolting up to her room. Yano was aware that her friend was killed by an investigator after being mistaken as a ghoul.

"Sorry again for her behaviour, she's still young and doesn't understand..."

"It's okay."

"Good straight-forward answers for a good young man. Say, you know that shrine maiden girl right?"

"Oh, the one at Aisaka Shrine."

"Yeah, Aisaka Luna. She came by and asked me if I knew about Goudo Soida, the heir of the Goudo-ya which you guys just visited. All I knew about him was that he was an important CCG member who fought in the recent war, but died in that wreckage... suspicious right? Is it okay if you could look into this for me as well?"

"Sure. But, she's an Aisaka?"

"Oh yeah, she is. She is meant to be the priestess next time, so better watch out for her. She's very scary when she's angry. Like her grandfather, Irie. Haha, but I'm on his good side- he likes my coffee like you do."

Yano thought for a while. She was actually powerful enough to at least escape from them when they were fighting the first time. But, she seemed frustrated at something, which was why Tatsuge could capture her.

"I see. I'll talk with Miharu about this."

"Thank you, Yano-kun."

That dagger was more than the heritage of the Godou family, or a powerful quinqe. It was a key to several mysteries, as well as the door to many outcomes. For some reason, Yano felt the need to take it back from Luna. But, he knew that his leader knew best.

* * *

Authors Notes: Wondering how Luna gets to roam about? Here's the explanation- Luna has been away from the CCG for awhile before she even got captured because of her priestess training, which makes her absence from a lot of places normal. Irie has not leaked about Miharu and her team since they have made an agreement. So they allow her to move about so that the suspicion won't arise, but she's still under heavy surveillance.

Should Tatsuge be allowed to be together with Luna? Will she die? Or what else? Who know, I'm not sure either. To be honest, those two are the ones I'm not too sure about keeping around in the timeskip (sorry, I like the other 4 much better X'D) But- its all up to opinions this time round. May the best bet win.

Thanks for reading! R&amp;R much appreciated! Also, that one R is necessary for the fate of Tatsuge and Luna, so please do try to do it!


	10. Revealing the Darkness

**Revealing the Darkness**

_The veil draws open,  
into the past of pain._

* * *

I am one who cannot feel. Perhaps that is an overstatement. Then, I shall say I cannot feel much. Be it my physical pains, or the emotional overdrive many might have. And this is what this organisation needs. This organisation needed formless beings like I am, and give them a purpose. And it is the kill as told, imprison as told and torture as told. Because humans and ghouls are both cruel and will never understand each other and don't realise they create such an influence to the young.

Ever since I was born, I was hit by this wave of cruelty. In which numbed me to everything. So here I am in Aogiri Tree, after what seemed like a 'bright' bandaged hand reached out to me. Unlike my fiery red hair and eyes which burned emotions, I was as dull as a stone.

"That dude still co-operatin' with the humans even when we told him he gonna be killed."

Its not a first time case- there was Arata and all sorts of soft-hearted ghouls around.

"To even create quinqes with them!"

Its getting more absurd.

"Well it seems that he's on the run now. The humans caught and turned on him quick huh~"

He's stupid enough to even try. No one will ever succeed.

"Say, Fire-head. We're gonna go out huntin' for tis' guy, said Tatara. We gonna whack his brains."

"Alright, Iga." I agreed quickly. Today is a boring day after all.

* * *

A woman in CCG uniform ran down the blocked off streets, desperately looking for someone. Her eyes seemed to be screaming out the name of whoever she was looking for. It made my blood boil. I wanted to kill her.

But somehow the allure of her long brown hair and eyes stopped me for piercing her through. I don't understand this feeling. Even though she has a quinqe on her and proves an obstacle...

"- Why did you run away?! I don't understand the meaning of this note!

I see. She was looking for him.

And still, I simply turned into the alleyway where Iga was on the lookout for our target. His bikaku swished excitedly for him to run our way but not the others. He was bored like me I guess. We don't get to do much.

"Iga, I didn't feel like killing the woman back there somehow."

"Well, she looked beautiful? Should' da be it. You never see one nowadays."

"...Beautiful? I guess I never saw what they call a 'beautiful' looking lady."

"Cause' you always lived in da dumpster. Me too. Base still not much better than a dumpster."

"I suppose so..."

A slash of green hair was extremely visible from the street lights that covered the darkened street. Several gunshots were shot at the figure with black coat, who dodged them swiftly and had what seemed like a devil's tail, slashing all his nearby chasers. Our target. His kakugan was out, and he was crying. From his tear-stained face it was obvious he had been at it for hours.

It was entertaining to watch him. He was expectantly agile and had great endurance and stamina unlike what the documents had told us. His attacks showed no hesitation. But here came the ultimate flaw.

His feet moved faster and lost the humans tracking him...

And flew right into the alley we were in.

"Kahaaah! Looki', looki' here! We have our guest, oh come take a seat on the crate!"

"What- Aogiri?!"

"Hello. I'm afraid you have to die, for violating our policies."

"...haha. I saw this coming..."

He slashed his bikaku at us, though they were cleanly dodged. The overly-excited Iga pounded into his exhausted body and tackled him to the ground. Iga's bikaku stabbed into his ankles twice each, before looking at me with an expectant look. How nice of him to give me some fun too.

Tatsuge's rinkaku sprouted out from his back, with the colour of cold blood on it. Just like his other features. Maybe he was cursed with red. Even kakugans had red in them. Okazu's eyes widened at the last minute recognition of the very man going to kill him, whispering a familiar name that caught Tatsuge's ears.

"...Pierre will go crazy, yes. He is a fine comrade, yes. But you still have to die either way."

The red muscle wrapped around the man's body, crushing it slowly before piercing right through his torso, tossing him into the wall beside them. Okazu lifelessly dropped onto the ground, filling the concrete ground with his blood. Without any other words, the ghoul walked away, his noisy friend grinning silently behind him.

A shadow of a petite figure covered the dying ghoul's body as the two left. From the last of his conciousness, Okazu could see the human that was hovering over him with a smile. The black ribbon that tied her purple hair to one side was enough for him to know it was her.

She whispered some words that made his exhausted eyes shoot up as fast as they could. He stared at her unbelievably, before nodding reluctantly. As he faded back into unconsciousness, he muttered the name that came to his mind.

"Pierre-no... Kokonoe..."

* * *

The snake was restlessly moving around Miharu, showing its disapproval of the action of giving Luna the dagger. She merely responded with a snort, which was in return replied with a tail slap to the face. Feeling that she had no time to deal with the upset life-form, Miharu tossed it into the living room- right into Kokonoe's face. Tatsuge and Orion could only gap at what she had done as the teen was actually going through some deep thinking.

Cocoa was even more displeased, but could not do anything but get off the ghoul's face for the moment. Kokonoe stood there in shock before looking at the living quinqe hurriedly moving away from him. But instead of being frustrated, he grabbed it by it tail and let it coil around his neck. Once again he felt at cool. And only one person could make him feel this way.

Okazu.

His green eyes shifted back and forth between his leader and long time comrade, full of hate and distrust. A smile was still on Miharu's face, but for Tatsuge... a horrified expression had completely taken over as he came to the same conclusion Kokonoe did. Knowing that he didn't belong to the conflict, Orion immediately stood up and left the scene, telling a henchman to keep watch of the ongoing tensions.

Dyed hair. His hair, covered in blood. Miharu liked saying that people were 'dyed' in the colours of their sins. Kokonoe also remembered clearly...that Tatsuge was one who was completely void of emotions in the past. She probably saw him only after he died. Tatsuge? Probably ordered to kill him without hesitation. Now he remembered- Kokonoe remembered. Iga pierced through the part of his brain that made him lose his memories so that he would be subdued. Since then, they never called him "Pierre"- his given name- so not to trigger anything.

Kill. His kakugan rolled into vision.

* * *

Authors Notes: Back! Expect two more chapters this week (lol why I am more active when there are exams here). Truth revelation- more Tatsuge stuff. Get ready for more fight scenes and also- there's mixed opinions of Tatsuge's and Luna's fates lol. I really don't know now, so I'm trying to neutralise it as much as possible. Hope you got to understand more of Tatsuge here!

Thanks for reading! R&amp;R very much absolutely extremely appreciated!


	11. Corrosion of the Darkness

**Corrosion the Darkness**

_The emotions of each one emerge._

* * *

"I won't let you destroy this place."

Miharu flicked her finger. In response to the command Cocoa immediately wrapped around Kokonoe tightly, bounding him immediately. She knew that he was reluctant to hurt his own brother, so she shot him in the legs and arms with Irina a few times before tossing the boy out into the courtyard. Tatsuge stared in utter disbelief at how quick she subdued him.

Cocoa quickly slithered back to her, taking his form as a sword. She held him tightly, her ever-present smile somehow faltering. Kokonoe's bikaku burst out from his lower back, immediately heading to hit Tatsuge first. Cringing, Tatsuge jumped away and released his own rinkaku, trying to tackle the rapid hits he was receiving. At the same time, he tried to hit Miharu-but he was much more hesitant in doing so.

She used Cocoa to block his attacks. He hated the feeling of his brother being used for such purposes and at the same time- this captain of his gave him something in life to do. His loyalty to her was not enough to not hurt her, but his respect still remained.

It was two against one. But Miharu's priorities was keeping the fight in check so as to not get caught. Tatsuge's was to protect himself and Luna. But he couldn't help it. All these years the truth was hidden from him. His head hurt badly as he recalled the manic face Iga had as the other's bikaku pierced into his eye. He screamed. He cried.

But no one came to save him, and his comrade merely stared at him coldly. Even though he had invested trust in him. It was a long time resentment.

"How dare you! Okazu died because you killed him! You didn't save him, you didn't save him! Why Tatsuge?! I trusted you! You and that human, all of you... just die. You should just die."

"...I was a man of duty then. I did not understand emotion."

"Then why...then why were so agreeable with me? Why did you act like you understood me?"

"I'm sorry. You would always go crazy over your brother. It was to keep you in check around me. Pierre-"

"Don't call me by that name. Never."

It was a series of repeated hits, blocks and evading. Miharu let out a bored sigh, seeing that she would never get an opportunity to use her very own kagune. She merely drew her gun and pointed it at Kokonoe's head.

"Calm down and sleep for now, Plastic-kun."

Before he could react to her words, his eyes widened at the shock of a bullet hitting the back of his skull. No, it didn't feel like the usual shards Irina would produce. Once again,Tatsuge could only watch the long crimson bullet hit Kokonoe. Then, he realised what she had done.

_"Irina, drink my blood."_

* * *

Luna gasped and ran to Tatsuge's unconscious body, which was tossed into the room by Miharu (who also had Kokonoe on her other shoulder). What was more surprising was the lack her ever-present smile, in which was replaced by a straight face. A cold, brooding air was radiating from her, and she understood the weight of this conflict.

The door was closed, leaving her and the red-haired ghoul alone. She gently settled him down onto his futon, cleaning his face of bruises and sweat that dissipated quickly anyway. Orion had actually warned her to stay in her room, for she had wanted to see what the racket was about. So to say, she was glad that she did.

Another thing she just noticed was the horrible looking gash on Miharu's hand, as if it were eaten away. It didn't look like it was going to recover quickly. There should be other reasons to her expressionless face, but it wasn't Luna's business to know. Yano came back moments after the noise ended, so Miharu's case should be rest assured.

Lastly was Kokonoe. Who knows what Orion might say to him. But it was better than seeing the rest of them.

She sighed. There was nothing she could do now but tend to Tatsuge.

* * *

"Stay still and let me wrap it, okay?"

"Mmm~"

"...you do know every time you do a 'Precision Shot' you'll relapse into that memory again?"

"Yeah."

"Be careful okay? You'll take time to recover. I'm sure Irina wouldn't do that if she were still alive."

"I think she would if I asked her to."

"Well, I don't know her either way."

Yano gently tied the bandage into a knot, puffing proudly at being able to do it without hurting her. Not that she would react to the pain either way. Returning from his coffee collection trip to see the aftermath of a fight wasn't very pleasing for him. He was willing to let it off though, since Miharu's ultimate smile had broken for the time being.

He did not like her human self or enjoyed seeing her relapse, but that was what she truly was. Someone who was cheerful but could be serious if she wanted to. That's all. That's it. But now it wasn't this way. She was disorientated, her false smiles overlapping true ones, her very own mask melting into her own face.

"I still like your eyes, Yano."

He'd been complimented by Yomiko just now, but the hazel eyes that stared at him from his lap was more satisfactory than anything else. No, he wouldn't say he loved her in that manner. It was more of reminding him that there were days he could sleep and rest in peace. He held her other uninjured hand in his, an old habit of theirs. He was acutely aware of what she was thinking at the moment.

"Leaving Luna to the conclusion of this saga, Miss Enokoto Urahime?"

"Oh yes, Enokoto Yano-san. Is there something wrong with that, 'brother'?"

They snickered, Yano holding back from his obnoxious laughter. Kyoto wasn't too much horrible. In 2 years, they'll be back at Tokyo. For now, they had to simply wait for the woman's next move.

* * *

Authors Notes: Lookin' for the next chapter? It's out one day later! (Yay?) Just clearing up some confusing things from last chapter: Cocoa is a bikaku, so is Kokonoe. The only known OC of mine which has a rinkaku by far is Tatsuge. Also, Tatara merely sanctioned the order of killing Okazu with no personal grudge what so ever, and Iga was the one describing the order (not Tatara, he wasn't in the chapter at all). Sorry if it became some weird thing for you while reading- I'll try to fix up the holes. I can't believe that I got Orion's age wrong though (lol he's my OC yet I forgot). He's 16. Yeap.

Just for the sake of convenience I'll dump their RC types here: Yano- Ukaku, Orion- Koukaku, Tatsuge- Rinkaku, Kokonoe- Bikaku, Okazu/Cocoa- Bikaku, Iga- Bikaku, Irina- Ukaku, Miharu- *revealed in the future chapters*.

Ask me more questions if you're confused! Also, if you spot a contradiction in information, please PLEASE inform me where exactly it is. Yeah, thanks.

Thanks for reading! R&amp;R is crucial in this one. Much appreciated!


	12. Redemption of the Darkness

**Redemption of the Darkness**

_It ends.  
It begins._

* * *

_"You can use it however you like."_

Soida's dagger sat by her like a curse, Miharu's words echoing in her head whenever she looked at it. But now, she could see its purpose. She didn't need to kill anyone. At the same time, she wanted to keep it to herself. Her two good friends had put many thoughts and feelings into this one quinqe. A gift. A memory. So Luna made up her mind about what to do with it.

She gently caressed Tatsuge's hair, musing about how soft it is despite him styling it to look slightly spiky everyday. Apologising softly to the sleeping man, she stood up, dagger in hand. As much as she could not part with it, this quinqe belonged in someone else's hands instead.

* * *

Orion stared into the mirror, slicing bits of his navy hair that had grown out a bit. He didn't want to have some crazy ass hair like Tatsuge, so he made it an effort to keep it short and simple. Looking behind him, Kokonoe was rolled into a ball in his futon, sleeping rather peacefully despite his outburst earlier. He sighed at his lack of knowledge over the incident, but it really wasn't his time to shine either.

But he knew why Kokonoe hated the name Pierre, though. "Kokonoe" was his surname. But he didn't have a name for himself because his parents never gave him one, and Okazu was left to do the naming. The older brother spent time to find a good name for him- that ridiculously took him 15 years. He came up with "Pierre"- Orion remembered himself giving immediate rejection to the name because "Kokonoe Pierre" just sounded too wrong to be a name. But Kokonoe smiled and took it whole-heartedly.

When he found out that the name actually came from Okazu's female human colleague in the CCG, who was also a major factor in his death, Kokonoe's feature immediately soured whenever anyone called him Pierre. An image of his brother covered in blood would come up in his mind, always.

During that time, you could say Orion was just 13- but he definitely knew better. When signs of Kokonoe remembering the truth of what happened occurred, Tatsuge would pull him away to somewhere safe and have Iga take care of him. He wasn't sure what was in Tatsuge's mind to make Iga his caretaker, but he didn't mind the slightly psychotic man nonetheless.

Just as he was in the midst of his thoughts, Kokonoe's eyes fluttered open. His head still felt heavy, and he couldn't move his body well.

"Orion? Oh, I'm in our room... Kaichou shot me good in the head..."

"Yeah, she did. And her hand got eaten good alright."

"Her hand- what? Wait...is it the rumoured 'Precision Shot' that she used? I've never seen it, but older division members have been talking about it."

"Same here, and it looks like its doing its job well. Looking at the fire power of the bullet and how far it went in, it's only immobilising you for the time being. Just an hour more and you'll be moving. But, like a drunk man."

"...Nii-san didn't deserve to die, so..."

"Kokonoe. Are you forgetting that we are in Aogiri Tree? This is the fate of those who go against regulations. We and Okazu are recruited orphans. Yano and Tatsuge joined to find a purpose in their lives. Captain was brought in by Eto. We are not normal, and our lives ought to be blood splattered. Got it?"

"Yes, I'm sorry."

"And to think you'd try to kill Luna... she is our source of information for the immediate happenings in the CCG and her capture is to ensure that our deal with Aisaka Irie is sealed. I'm sure if he had her back, he'd be more wary of what information to give us. It is thanks to this deal we got to even do something other than paperwork- because we get to hunt. Understand?"

"Still though...how did he end up as a quinqe? Most likely Kanou I guess..."

"I myself don't know the details, but that's the likeliest possibility."

Just as they were talking, a knock came by.

"Who is it?" Orion turned around and recognised the shadow behind the paper doors well.

"You don't need to open the door."

Kokonoe's breath hitched as he heard Luna's voice, mustering all his strength to turn towards her direction. Even if he wanted to kill her there and then, he still couldn't move.

"W-What do you want." His voice quivered, seeing that she held a weapon in her hands. "Do you want to kill me with that in your hands?"

"No! Of course not! This... quinqe is something your brother made painstakingly for his best friend, who has unfortunately died recently. So I'm giving this to you."

"To me? A quinqe? You can't be serious, I can't use one."

"Miharu uses them, so why can't you?"

"I-"

"Take it, Kokonoe. I presume this is the last thing he made, and wants you to have it. Luna was his subordinate before, so she should know better." Orion casually went towards the door and slid it open roughly, causing Luna to jump backwards. Taking the knife, he whispered into her ear.

"You can leave now. Also, be wary of what happens to you from now on. Your importance to Aogiri is now lessened... and being a subject of Kanou's is now highly likely. This time frame is your time for escape. CCG members are crowding Kyoto... that _monster_ is here too. So, it is up to you."

"Why are you telling me all these?"

"Because I respect you for coming here despite almost getting slaughtered. Go to Tatsuge now and rethink your plans. I would like to see what you do from now on."

With that, he slid the door shut again. Orion felt his partner's wide green eyes stare into his soul, extremely curious of what he just told the human. He raised a brow, but stayed silent either way. The younger teen simply went on to sweep his cut hair off the floor, whistling as he did so.

* * *

Some way or another, Luna found her whip, Mercury, sitting on the dining table. There was nobody around, and the only signs of life was the ridiculous laughters of both Miharu and Yano, with excited voices of the other ghouls. Who knows what they were playing, but it sounded fun. Although compelled to stay in such an environment, she closed her eyes and ran outside.

Just as she was about to turn a corner at the road, a cloaked man approached her- and she knew well whoever that was.

"You can't escape the Aogiri."

She immediately drew her whip and tried to buy time for herself, constantly aiming for spots like the back of his knees and neck to immobilise him. She yelped and jumped away when she felt her back hit what seemed like another person. In an instant, the ghoul was cleanly cut into half. Luna whipped her head back to see...

"Kishou...Arima-san..."

"Ah, you are the person who occasionally does maintenance for Ixa. Aisaka Luna-san, if I am correct."

"Yes, that is my name."

"Please be wary of this area, there is a higher rate of ghouls around. Please head back to base as soon as possible whenever you can."

"Yes sir. I suppose you're heading there now? May I follow you?"

"...Very well. You may."

Looking back once more, her eyes widened to see Cocoa slithering close by, as if to say its goodbyes to her. She could only stop tears from welling in her eyes, for it was hard to leave her best friend no matter his form. Who knows what punishments the others will get for letting her go.

* * *

Tatsuge opened his eyes to see no one by his side, even though a pleasant warmth was by him just now. A note replaced Luna's side of the bed, leading him to snatch it up and read it hastily. His body shot up from his bed despite still feeling sore, and ran towards the noisy room where some party was going on at.

"Kikinoji, you lost! Penalty: Take the east wing for the next mission!"

"OHHHHHHH!" Almost the whole division for the Kyoto's 2nd section was there.

"Why?! There's like, nothing there! I wanna have fun, why be so mean!"

"Miharu!" Tatsuge silenced the crowd . "What is this?!"

"Looks like a farewell note? Seems like Cocoa went ahed of you, then." She drew another card, waving a Queen of Hearts and placing it onto the table. Kikinoji then pulled it over to the 'graveyard', where it couldn't be revived or used again.

"...the higher ups will be after us."

"There was Kishou Arima."

"Oh seriously... so she went back. I don't know how to feel now."

"Hey Tatsuge? You lonely cause' no one else can replace Iga any more?" Kikinoji snickered, though he did sympathise with him and patted the seat by him. "Just kidding. We can't do anything to keep her here cause' there's heavy surveillance. **Especially around our house because of the noise an hour ago. **Very scary- we don't want one of Aogiri's whole division to be wiped out right? We're weak asses, the only stronger average ones would be Captain's main team which includes you."

"Wait...don't tell me this was planned from the start..."

"It kinda was one of the lesser alternatives but still there nonetheless so yeah. She'd be gone before Eto comes for book signing in Kyoto. Just that."

His fiery red eyes sauntered over to the smiling Miharu, who was stalk cold moments ago before he passed out. In the end there was nothing he could do. He himself did encounter with Arima after all...who took out his own companion that used himself as Tatsuge's meat shield. All he did was run. Run for his life like Okazu did. He didn't feel the same way as Kokonoe, but it still hurt either way.

_Luna leaned down to peck his lips lightly, before putting on her shrine maiden's outfit properly. The words on her letter were well thought out and wrote it in the most reassuring way possible. She hoped that her feelings and intentions would go across. She also gave special thanks to Miharu and Orion for their indirect help._

_"I'm sorry Tatsuge. I'm sorry."_

* * *

Authors Notes: This is the end of this arc! Should I call it Kyoto Ghoul? Drrrrr. Anyway, I don't know if you're supposed to feel like this is a finale or not lol (what am I saying, I'm the writer right?) Looks like some interesting questions are coming up! Don't you think Arima's presence just stops any action and everyone just flees (just look at what happened during the Anteiku Raid)?

If you didn't get what happened with why they kidnapped Luna in the first place, it was because by doing that, Irie would be more open to constantly provide them information. At the same time, they get to directly extract info from Luna herself who is especially involved with the creation of quinqes. Since she has formed connections, especially with Tatsuge, she won't spill the beans of whatever she knows about Aogiri, making her a possible double agent. She was no longer needed and in normal occasions would be killed, but her fate was left to Miharu (favourtism from the higher ups). She has been greatly entertained by the recent chain of events :D (not sure if that's a good thing)

We're moving back to Tokyo next week, be prepared for more Kaneki (or would we say Haise) and company!

Thanks you for reading (especially till this far)! R&amp;R is very appreciated, and has been very helpful!


	13. Back into the Darkness

**Back into the Darkness**

_Its been a while my friend...  
Shall we talk whilst having a meal?  
Ah, of course... a fine meal._

* * *

The vehicle bumped through the roads in the midst of the night. Stars were visible on this barely lit express way, its destination towards Tokyo. Just a lone car, with an extremely quiet street. With the irresistible cool air hitting them with the speed they were going at, Orion poked his head out of the window and viewed the stars. He knew stories like stars being souls were absolutely false, but he found them beautiful either way.

"They look so nice from here, but they're just gases..."

He let out a disappointed sigh, though he didn't mind. Looking for familiar constellations, he found the one he'd memorised since he was young: Orion. A hunter in Greek mythology, who was placed among the stars by Zeus. Of course there were more details, but interesting nonetheless.

_"See those three stars in a row? That's Orion's Belt. Now look at the bigger picture. Find the rest of his body. Hm? It looks weird? Of course it does- it's just a constellation. But you see, even though we know the world is cruel, it is still beautiful. It's simply how you perceive the world."_

"Gisella..."

He mumbled the name that came to his mind. Surely, she must be out there living...perhaps dead, who knows. It's been years since he'd left Germany after all. Is the mansion holding up? Did the CCG branch there exterminate them? A smile that he'd left alone...

* * *

Right off the bat the three of them were dumped onto another van, transporting them onto their next mission. At least they were given an hour to listen to a quick briefing, prepare and leave the other three with instructions before heading off to their "may be" deaths. There was nothing to be worried or anxious about, but Yano couldn't help but glance at Miharu constantly. She's still smiling, no hint of surprise or anguish.

Was she lying to herself, or did her time as a ghoul completely replaced her human side? Yano decided to leave his overly curious mind alone and turned to his right, where he saw Kikinoji putting on his mask.

"Crowley, how is the situation there like now?"

"The transaction in going well. Seems like the doves are unaware of the situation."

"...this is for the new stuff in Kanou's lab right?"

"Yeah. What's up Seraph? You don't look very good."

"It's fine..."

Kikinoji smiled reassuringly, though it was covered by the black and long beak-like mask that covered the lower part of his face. At first he hated the nickname the doves gave him: Crowley, but he'd eventually let it off instead. But he knew what was on Yano's mind.

"The next mission is going to be tough, but it's going to be exciting! C'mon Seraph. I'm your _'older brother', _so you don't have to be so stiff about it okay?"

"I guess so. Let's just hope we don't die."

"Think about this mission. Think about now. That's what our _older sister _likes to say right?"

Miharu's lazy ears perked up at the mention of herself. "That's about right, so keep your eyes open 'kay~ Guard the items, kill the intruders, escape upon signal~"

"Yes, Kaichou." The men in the car gave a solid response, making her chuckle. Her hazel eyes were full of blood lust from behind the blindfold. Her smile clearly told the mood she was in; a toothy grin. Her other two comrades beside her held the very same expression.

"Cocoa and Irina are hungry today, so I hope we reach soon. Actually, me too."

* * *

The two of them side by side made the battlefield seem like some sort of fantasy. The gas-masked ghoul had his ukaku protruding from his long black cloak, forming a pair of wing-like structures that had sharp feathers. The beak-masked ghoul's rinkaku looked like black, jagged malleable swords that easily cut through his opponents. Blood was clearly dripping from the tip of his mask, indicating that he was eating them on the spot.

Their leader trudged forward with a malicious grin, the bright and glowing quinqe in her hands somehow not splattered with blood. The investigators in front of her gasped in horror as she slashed another one of their comrades, watching the sword absorb his blood. It was eating as well. It was alive.

"Stand back, I'll take care of her!"

"Oikawa! Are you crazy? She's the leader, you can't keep up with her at your level-"

"I know, just shut up and go already! Get to the basement!"

"No-"

Covering the girl's mouth, Watanabe dragged her towards the doorway, showing Oikawa a glance of concern before running off with the rest of his team. Oikawa knew that she wasn't showing her true power, especially since she was simply killing them off using a quinqe. It might mean that she was exhausted easily if she used her kagune, so he'd just need to keep up with her until the mission was complete. But it wasn't that easy.

He barely rolled away from the bullets that were shot at him from the pistol, using his own to shoot back at her. His attacks were easily dodged, making him frustrated at his incompetence. Miharu laughed heartily, enjoying the swordplay that was going on as well. Oikawa grunted, feeling slightly disgusted at how she was feeling happy about killing humans.

"What's wrong boy? You've left an opening."

He gasped as her sword went straight towards him, twirling around his arm and disarming him of his own sword. But that was not the only this that surprised him. She stood there, waiting for him to pick it up again.

"What are you waiting for? Take your sword."

"W-Why the hell would you want to wait for me? You can just kill me and eat me right now! I-I'm so weak...you're not even trying your best and I..." Although he berated himself, Oikawa shakily took the sword into his hands again.

"Because everyone else on this floor is already dead, and my mission is complete." At the realisation of her words, he whipped his head around to see no one left, only half-eaten corpses and a garden of blood. Most importantly...Seraph and Crowley weren't there. That meant that they were at the basement.

"No...Watanabe, Kaede... Hijiru...!"

"Watch what I do closely. Today is a special day~"

Trying hard to deflect the rapid hits that Miharu was dealing, he continued jumping backwards until he hit the wall, tearing up as she shot his hands and legs. His gun slid away from his reach, her sword at his neck. It hurt. It hurt so bad. Seeing that he was going to die either way, he slashed his sword upwards in desperate attempt to slice her head, but it was cleanly evaded either way. But, her blindfold cleanly dropped onto the ground...

"Happy Birthday, Oikawa-kun~"

"Miharu-senpai...!"

Oikawa never got to say his last words. His head merely detached from his neck, rolling away slowly. Cocoa changed back into a snake and started feeding on his fresh corpse. Wiping away the blood on her coat with her sliced blindfold, she took out another one and wrapped it around her eyes. She admitted a dissapointed sigh.

_Poor boy. I was someone you admired, after all._

* * *

Haise sucked in a breath of the city night's air, clearly feeling unpleasant after the meeting. The Quinx squad was certainly not fairing as expected, and their personalities clashed against each other like the currents of the sea. He opened up his palm in front of him, somehow thinking that he could find the answers to his problems that simply. Of course, reality didn't work that way. The chill of the night began to creep onto his unguarded fingers, causing him to rub them together. He decided to head back home and skip his journey to the book store, since the others must be waiting for him to make dinner either way.

His eyes travelled all around the place; bars, malls, small stores, restaurants. They all felt familiar, yet, very foreign to him. Kaneki Ken lived around here and passed by these streets countless times. At the thought of it, Haise's pace quickened, not wanting to hear the voice in his head at that moment. He felt his heart beat faster when he walked by the unnamed fast food restaurant that sold burgers and swung his head around to see if he saw anyone he knew. But there was nobody.

It was going to be seven soon, and he had to rush. Yet, he was getting distracted by all these things. He swore that his knack for detail was going to kill him one day, if not save him otherwise. Closing his eyes, he concentrated on going home.

Today, is yet another day. Another day of uncertainty. But when he opened the door to see them waiting for him, happily welcoming him back home, his insecurity was erased from that moment. A warm feeling took over, a smile of relief on his face.

"I'm home."

* * *

Authors Notes: And finally, the time skip has occurred! I'm not very sure of what's coming to be honest. It is three years down the road, and maybe you'll be able to see what has become of all of them... Yeah, and a little drop of Orion's past. Get ready for more Aogiri next chapter! Kikinoji is now the new addition to the team, though it was a little unexpected. I need inspiration, all I have in my mind now is studies. 6CO2 + 6H20 = C6H12O6 + 6O2. Did I get that equation right? I'll just go play Yu-Gi-Oh! for now I guess.

Thanks for reading! R&amp;R much appreciated and very much needed right now!


	14. Welcoming the Darkness

**Welcoming the Darkness**

_No matter how pure the heart,  
there is always space for evil._

* * *

They kept watch of their surroundings, bodies covered in blood and eyes of an odd colour. The duo pulled the two corpses on the ground as they hastily made way towards the alley, so that they could consume it before losing control. Looking at the teenager beside him, Iga worriedly patted his shoulder as his partner continued salivating uncontrollably. It was because of the dove infestation in this ward that they had been reduced to _this. _To vent his anger, Iga made sure that his victim was still alive, so as to torture the poor man.

Tatsuge stared on as he saw his friend tenderising the human's meat alive, screams and wails unheard in the middle of the night. He wasn't sure what to make of his habits, but he sure didn't like how messy it was. Iga was taking his own sweet time though, since Tatsuge had already done eating and stored the rest of the body in the old fridge. Pouring a glass of blood for himself, he settled onto the broken couch and lazily played a song on the radio. It didn't help that the human was still screaming though.

"Hey Iga, I want to listen to the radio. Hurry up and finish already."

"Tatsuge ya' such a bore. But I get'cha, so I'm gonna eat now."

Stuffing the man's mouth with a ragged cloth out of respect for Tatsuge, he nosily pulled and chewed at the fresh meat, still warm and the blood still flowing. He felt himself rush as he felt a pair of red annoyed eyes stare into him, wanting him to get on and over with it. Tatsuge went back to lying on the couch lazily, with nothing to think about. It was so boring. Their lives had no purpose.

But they continue to live on anyway. Because Tatsuge believed people were born to live.

* * *

"Welcome back Tatsuge- ah, you have teary eyes! What's wrong?" Kokonoe was just done with patrolling the human prisoners when he saw Tatsuge's dead beat figure. His words were simply waved off, the ghoul himself thudding heavily onto the chair.

"I don't have teary eyes, you must be dreaming."

"I swear you have teary eyes. Here, a mirror."

He held the object in his hands, his tired face clearly reflected on it. Kokonoe wasn't wrong. He had been crying. But he let out a chuckle, patting the young man's head reassuringly. As if he got the message, Kokonoe put his hands to his forehead at the remembrance of the person Tatsuge was thinking about. The throbbing pain from back them came to him ever so slightly, but he shook his head and it was gone.

"Hey, Orion is going to see that... weird family on behalf of his own family right?"

"He's from a German family himself. Falkenrath, I think. "

"We have to do his work on his behalf, so please don't slack off."

"Haah, I get that much."

* * *

Miharu was curiously inspecting the new people who had flowed into the Aogiri the past three years she was gone, and saw a lot of interesting changes in the people she knew. Particularly Ayato. Eto said that her surprise wouldn't end there though. For some reason, she felt a bad churn in her stomach when she remembered the tone of Eto's voice. How unlike her. Either way, she giddily made her way over to Hinami, or rather, Master Yotsume as she had nothing else better to do.

What's interesting about this young lady was that she was the girl Kaneki Ken used to take care of. Another thing was her abilities, and of course, Ayato's attachment to her. She was waiting to see more interesting things now. As she went on to pick her jar of pickled pickles and started snacking on it, she noticed the teenager staring at her.

"What's up Master Yotsume~ Is something bothering you?"

"No... I was wondering if you've seen Ayato."

"Oh, Tsundere Boy. He's just right about back from the meeting if I'm not wrong. Are you lonely without him?" Hinami shook her head in response, but Miharu noted that she was less energetic with the lack of his presence. "I see~ Say, don't mind giving me a clue about this 'surprise' Eto is about to give me? I had a bad feeling about it~"

"Uhm..." The girl averted her eyes, already check marking Miharu's sceptical thoughts. "I can't really say- how about we go the other room? It's a bit stuffy here."

"If you say so~" A chill went down Hinami's spine when she saw the murderous look in the woman's hazel eyes. But she knew she still couldn't say anything to her. Just then, the door barged open to two familiar faces that haven't been seen in a long time.

"Miha~ It's so refreshing to see you after I open the door~" Eto flung her arms around her, Ayato clicking his tongue before moving in to sit beside Hinami. A cloaked figure also silently entered the room, his scent oddly familiar. The uncovered fingers of this unknown person was wrinkled and the nails were black. Miharu's smile dropped as she was released from her welcoming hug, a sense of dread creeping onto her.

"This is the surprise. Say hello to Owl!"

"A-Ah. Hahaha. So this is what he's become..." A wry smile came upon her face as the hood came off the stranger's face, an wide soulless grin meeting her face.

"Mi-Miharu..." His voice sounded hoarse and shaky, his hood now slightly drawn up as he looked at her.

_Surely, she must be out there for some other purpose! There's no way she'll go and kill like that for no reason!_

That resolve was so easily broken. He always had a fragile state of mind, easily scared and weak. But he was earnest and kind-hearted, and made her feel warm all the time. His appearance, now ragged and his personality all deranged, Miharu felt as if she were face to face with a stranger. But for now, she just absorbed whatever she was shown. Hinami grew concerned for the person she'd just met, but Ayato pulled her aside.

Miharu was honestly tempted to taunt him into fighting her there and then to see how far he's come as a ghoul, but feeling the aura Eto radiated, she stopped herself. Of course she wasn't happy with the results. She expected something more sane to approach her, but if it's the Aogiri Tree, perhaps she had risen her hopes a bit too much. Obviously her case was an exception, and this was a reminder.

"Hey Seidou~ I haven't seen you in like...how many years?" She tried counting on her fingers, snickering. "Not sure. You really look and act different!"

Takizawa inched backwards, clearly ashamed to face his previous partner face to face after so many years in this form. After letting out a strangled laughter, he cursed the CCG for abandoning him before fleeing out of the room. An eerie silence took over.

"Just who are you, Tokone-san?" Hinami asked, taken aback by whatever had happened.

"Rank 1 Investigator and genius researcher, Tokone Miharu. Brought to you by the CCG... several years ago. Teehee~"

* * *

The brown haired man complained as the supposedly older lady dragged him towards a very suspicious looking place, a gloomy atmosphere hitting him almost immediately. As much as he wanted to get away, he realised that the place they were heading towards was a graveyard. The resistance his arm dissipated, his mind now full of worry over her. Who did she want to visit?

"Curious aren't you? It's my mom's grave we're seeing today."

He gulped at her words, remembering how icy her mother was towards everything and anything. As he poured some water over the grave stone and waited for his friend to finish arranging the flowers, he looked to the man beside them, visiting another grave. An old couple went by, whispering to one another.

"_He's been here for hours. I know its sad to lose someone but he's getting really creepy. Look at his face!"_

As they said, the forlorn expression that the man held didn't look healthy at all. His slightly long red hair covered half of his face, which was actually not too bad looking considering that he had been sulking here for hours. The investigator was concerned, but decided to not to bother such a person.

_"His grave doesn't even have his ashes in it..." _The stranger mumbled, as if he were in a trance. _"Only his obi, only obi..."_

Suspecting that the person was killed, he felt his hand reach out towards him before another hand grabbed onto his arm, pulling him away from the scene. He frowned at the purple-haired girl who merely smiled back cheekily at him.

"What's up Seidou? You mad?"

"Damn it Miharu...It was just that he looked really lonely and sad so I..."

"Don't worry. I'm still here right?"

Back at the graves, the man remained. His feet had grew numb and he didn't care, but he did note that it was soon time for him to return to headquarters. Combing his hair with his fingers he stood up reluctantly, now ready to leave. A tear fell from his eye.

_"And you told me that you'll be right back, Iga."_

* * *

Authors Notes: Rightttt, time to fill up some gaps, no? For Kikinoji's and Yano's file names, you'll have to wait a few more chapters for an explanation~ Also now you know Orion's full name: it's Orion Falkenrath. Yeah I know where I stole it from, just deal with it. Continuing, if you're curious about why Iga's grave is mixed up with the humans, that's because the two of them were integrated into the human society after being recruited into Aogiri Tree. The flashback above is before they were recruited. Most importantly, what do you guys think of the meeting between Miharu and Ghoul Taki? I myself feel it was pretty rushed, but I based it off his reaction after seeing Akira (you know what I mean right?). I hope you enjoyed this chapter!

Oh yeah, one of my friends told me that Miharu is kinda like an asshole. Is she to you guys? If so...GOOD. LOL.

Thanks for reading! R&amp;R much appreciated *sparkles* (Don't worry about the equation, it's just photosynthesis!)


	15. Serenade of the Darkness

**Serenade of the Darkness**

_A man stands alone,  
composing his tunes._

* * *

His fingers tapped on the table soundlessly, waiting for the empty seats to be filled up. The one beside him was vacant as well at the moment, but he truely wished if the person could make it. Above all, he needed the meeting to start quickly. Everyone knew that they had no time and the CCG has already made their move, most likely ten steps ahead of them. As the head of the Tsukimiya family sauntered his way towards the grand seat in the middle, his eyes lingered towards the attendant beside him: Kanae. If his memory served him right, this man was a Rosewald, meaning that he should've been that depressing child he saw once before.

Time ticked by relentlessly and soon almost all the seats have been taken. A few recognisable people here and there, but that was probably it. He noted the important shareholders for the Tsukimiya family who were most likely willing to sacrifice their bodies to thank them. Honestly, he found such devotion terrifying but he had seen some deep ones just right by him. The chair beside him remained cold, so he gave up thinking that she would arrive anyway. Just as he brushed away his thoughts, Tsukimiya Mirumo raised his hand, signaling the start of the meeting.

"So, Grisella Falkenrath is either late or not attending, I pressume?" He rose an eyebrow at the only Falkenrath that was at the table.

"Yes." Orion responded grimly. Knowing the boy for a period of time, he gave a smile of reassurance before settling down once again.

Once again he eyed the Rosewald, who was unaware of his stare. For some reason, his intuition told him that this man was to bring a misfortune to this place and onto his himself. Knowing full well that his instincts were right most of the time, he made it a point to inform Miharu when he returned.

* * *

"Well this job's going to be tough. Back in Tokyo to be banged by tough stuff. We're to help guard Torso, and the _Clowns _are the hosts. That reminds me, Nico isn't really around any more- chey." Miharu twirled her hair around her finger as she lazily explained their upcoming task to her team members. "What's more is that~ Kijima and Arima are to be there, props to us I guess!"

"Kijima's the guy with the creepy rag doll face right?" Tatsuge recalled a mission where an extremely agile inhumane like figure came up and slashed all the ghouls in his way. "Seriously disgusting fellow."

"Kaichou, do you still wish to use Cocoa and Irina in this operation? They might find out." Yano had a rare look of worry on his face.

"Hm? Find out what?" Kikinoji peeked out from the book he was reading, curious about Yano's rather odd speech. The younger male coughed and dismissed his own statement.

"Nothing much."

Not only Yano's behaviour was weird. Miharu seemed on the edge after seeing Takizawa, and now she was grinning widely, as if she had another sketchy plan up her sleeve. After seeing her eyes direct towards his way, Tatsuge frowned.

"Akuryou. What's with that face?"

"Eh~ Just that some interesting things are going to happen." For some reason, she recalled the day she first met Eto. Or rather, Takatsuki Sen- who was the author of Irina's favourite book at that time: Dear Kafka. Apparently a girl of the same age had written it and when she went to her first book signing, she already felt a hint of destructiveness in her eyes. Miharu immediately knew because she had the very same look in her own. "This is a big operation, and I'm also expected to fight."

"You gonna use ya kagune? You never use it man." Kikinoji poked at Cocoa, who had taken his form as a snake. "How the heck does a quinqe even be like _this? _Kanou said that it wasn't his creation."

"One day, you'll know." She put a finger on her lip, giggling slightly. "Kokonoe, Tatsuge. You both stay stationed here for Orion's return tomorrow. Us _siblings _have some investigative work to do, so we'll be at _the apartment. _"

"Roger that, Kaichou." Although saying that, he eyed _Okazu _carefully. The snake curled on onto his arm and gave a reassuring pat to his shoulder before sliding away. Kokonoe could only sigh, knowing that the leader he was so devoted to had a deeper secret. An indescribable feeling welled up inside him. His light. His darkness. The same person. What seemed like a manic smile crept up his face, unknown to the ones around him.

* * *

The three of them sat at the cafe, drinking their coffees lesuirely. Miharu had placed her camera on one side of the table, her laptop shifted to the side so that the other two could see what was on the screen. From a slight distance, a man and a young woman were curiously observing their activities. There were no other customers at the moment.

"The editor is going to be pleased about this. Those investigators were chasing us out again though." Yano sipped on his coffee slowly, looking over the article again. "I'm so glad for that new camera."

"I've captured a few pics from Torso's activities~ It'll proof a good distraction. We just need to hand it over to someone and let it spread..." Miharu

"Shh. I smell someone familiar." Yano nudged the two of them. "It's..."

Sasaki pushed open the door, the bells chiming lightly. Following behind him was Shirazu and and Mutsuki, who were admiring the interior as well. They took a seat in front of the trio, opening the menu to see what was a available. At the side, Yomo stood silent in shock. Seeing that he wasn't greeting the customers, Touka was lecturing him to be polite until she herself froze. There he was in front of them. It was Kaneki.

The investigator jumped in surprise when Yomo had sat himself in front on him, looking closely at his face before leaving the table, leaving Sasaki as confused as ever. Touka took a deep breath, approaching his table to take his order. From behind, Kikinoji snickered as he tapped Miharu's shoulder, pulling close to her ear.

"Hey, you wanna do a _Hey, you're that guy from Kamii University right? I'm surprised at the job you've chosen! _thing on him?" He whispered.

"We'll be busted." Yano karate chopped his head in annoyance. "Keep your ideas to yourself."

"Other than that, they're investigators! We should get acquainted with some for more **quality work.**" Miharu smiled brightly at the idea. Her smile widened when she saw Touka bring the coffee towards Sasaki's table, waiting for a some kind of moment of nostalgia from him.

Truly enough, tears had begun to stream down his face as he drank the coffee, an odd familiar feeling welling up in his chest. Kindly, Touka passed him a handkerchief to wipe his tears away with, a compassionate but yet sad look on her features. Sasaki stared at her for a few seconds: indeed, he had just met the most beautiful person in his life. She seemed so...distant.

As they finished their coffee, Mutsuki took notice of the chatter going on behind them. A group of three were gathered around a laptop, looking at what seemed like a news article and editing the text. He gasped in surprise when he recognised some of the photos, pulling on Shirazu's sleeve and telling him to look behind. The Quinx leader frowned, suspicious of these people behind him, though deciding to stay silent either way (after Mutsuki's prodding).

"Nee-san, can you just stop buying dill pickles? They're really awful." Kikinoji cringed in dismay as she took one gigantic jar from Yomo and settled back down at her seat again.

"Don't be so picky with your food Kikinoji. You hate all vegetables." Miharu stuck the jar at his face, causing him to pale and pull back as far as possible.

"Ew it stinks! Get it away from me!"

"Generally you are correct, but pickles are not everybody's thing Ura-nee." Yano ordered more coffee, along with a bag of quality coffee beans and sugar. "Kikinoji, stop pulling out the lettuce."

"Shut it man!" He whined. "At least I eat tomatoes."

"Huu." The two gave him a skeptical look.

Although finding the conversation weird for people who were in their 20s, Mutsuki theorised that they were siblings, since they called the girl "Nee-san" and "Ura-nee" respectively. He was surprised to find that she was the oldest though, due to her rather youthful appearance. Something about her seemed familiar as well, but he couldn't dig it out of his mind at the moment. He flinched when he thought he saw her give him a curious stare, but after blinking again, she was still into the conversation with her brothers.

After Sasaki was done, they got up and left the face. As Haise pondered over his encounter with Touka, what remained in Mutsuki's mind was that mysterious girl he believed to have met before.

* * *

Authors Notes: I have a feeling that I really screwed up this chapter. And if you've been wondering, I've actually put off Miharu as a side-character like person because I really wanted her and the other characters to integrate into the Tokyo Ghoul universe. About how she knows that Eto is Takatsuki Sen...you'll find out some time later :'D Sorry for being so slow for this chapter, I actually have four other COMPLETELY different drafts for this. That was how hard it was to come up with chapter, it's that crucial. Now you see her tweak the story a little...technically she did meet Kaneki before as well (forgot cause I'm too slow? You can check out the previous chapters again :p) The title captions also have some clues to the story. Just saying you haven't been reading them~

Btw thanks to KingOfPowers with your reviews. Helps me a bunch man! You other peeps too, glad to see people actually reading this!

Thanks for reading! R&amp;R happily and absolutely appreciated!


	16. Swords in the Darkness

**Swords in the Darkness**

_The blacksmith does as he wishes.  
Collect the best materials, forging the best sword.  
But what wasn't expected was  
that he didn't sell it to a swordsman._

* * *

As expected, the audience was grand and plentiful. Rows of fancifully dressed ghouls wore masks, their words as seemingly intricate as their clothing. Dim lights shone upon them, some with glistening saliva already on their lips. As the lights dimmed completely, the crowd settled down as someone was held the microphone, and the person's deep inhale echoed across the room.

"Welcome to this wonderful auction! Before we commence, let us indulge you with some of our performances to prepare for this occasion!"

One of the clowns. As the hall cheered, a small grunt was made by Orion, who eyed the place with absolute displeasure. Close to the top right was Big Madam, who was surrounded by some nameless Aogiri ghouls that were sure to die later. A disgusting smile etched on her lips, making him look away almost instantaneously. His nose had caught hold of a distinct smell amongst all the stench, towards a man with a metal plate as an eye mask. He held a elegant aura, exposing his identity almost immediately.

Kanae von Rosewald.

Definitely he was here without the permission of his master. A single rose sat his breast pocket, clearly wanting to make himself identified. A smirk graced Orion's face.

Idiotic.

A child who tries to emulate his master's personalilty. Elegant, sophisticatedly crafty and wicked. One who delights in the finest of meals. Extravagance. Orion's bemused expression had came into Miharu's sight, who looked at whatever caught his attention. She made a small giggle before the other clowns came into view. Just as she expected, Roma had an anticipating grin to her face, with the long missed Nico by her side. Speaking of which she had remembered him saying that Roma liked how Kaneki was full of despair. Figures.

Before long, the knife-throwing and all sorts of activities happened on stage as the Clowns began to showcase their circus talents. Not like they had time to pay attention as Miharu's team ghosted over to Torso, who was close to the secret exit. He chattered and mumbled nervously over his own survival. Meanwhile, another distinct smell had hit Yano's nose.

The Clowns had finished with their performance, now shrinking back into their places. Uta picked up the microphone again, now with the crowd's utmost interest. What will be today's auction?

"-We have acquired something very special today, a last minute addition." The ghouls began to ready their shouts of money. This would be the second time this _special _auctioning had ever happened, and of course Big Madam was ready to be the highest bidder ever.

"It is a one-eyed ghoul."

"N-No, what is she doing there?! How can I participate?!" Torso might had as well screamed his lungs out as he stood by Hinami and Ayato, completely taken aback by seeing Mutsuki on sale. Devastated, so to say.

"Similar smell..." Yano had muttered under his breath, his eyes tracing over to Miharu. "Kaichou, get ready."

She merely nodded as she watched a young, short haired woman got thrown onto the stage, one eye glowing red. The roars got even louder as the smell of such had engulfed the room, along with the scared beauty's shocked expression. A small, tingling feeling pocked at Miharu as she saw Mutsuki look around with absolute horror.

"While the starting price would usually be a million, we shall begin the bet with...ten million."

"THIRTY MILLION!"

"FIFTY MILLION!"

"SEVENTY MILLION!"

One by one the cards were raised up, the auction going wild as higher numbers kept rolling in. Mutsuki couldn't believe it. He was going to be sold. Like that. With a price tag. He couldn't get into contact with the CCG, so help would be late...or not there at all. He could go ahead and tackle the auctioneer by surprise, but he was surrounded by several other hungry ghouls...

The auctioneer suddenly drew close to him, whispering something that tensed Mutsuki for a moment, but silently sat at where he was. The people had stopped their bidding as the prices went up the roof, now left to a certain two people- Big Madam and Rose.

"TWO HUNDRED MILLION!" Big Madam screamed, her spit flying out of her mouth.

Kanae's mouth hung as Matsumae comforted him, knowing that the price was a tad too high for them. But, that didn't mean that he wouldn't still get the half-ghoul into his hands...

Mutsuki's shoulders slumped. There. Sold. He felt himself being hauled up by Nutcracker, who laughed in delight over how expensive he was. She knew that he was good stuff, but to be this valuable? It was probably the best moment of her life. In her happiness, she kissed him on the cheek.

"The pairings are up." Miharu waved her hand at them, starting their operation. "Kikinoji and Tatsuge, Kokonoe and Yano, Orion and me. First pair towards the prize, second to secure escape route and guarding. Orion, we'll be monitoring the situation as a whole."

"Roger." They replied to their captain in unison, and separated.

* * *

Although Tatsuge found their jobs rather mundane and pointless, he pretty much just went with it either way. Torso had no need to be guarded and could die for all they care, but saving him meant that the CCG would chase him down for even longer. Wait. Torso was probably planned to be used as a catch bait, so that a bunch of investigators would be flocking him.

Feeding ground. Tatsuge was rather pleased to see that Miharu had actually thought of giving them something to do instead of lazing about. Kikinoji obviously was glad that he was out of the cycle of getting to the shortest, lamest fights ever- that were determined by card games.

One-eyed ghouls were easily to detect. As long as they could smell Mutsuki, they would be able to keep Torso in check. At the same time, Tatsuge knew that the other bidder, Rose, would not back down so easily. As Orion explained before coming here, that man was very VERY into getting good food for Tsukimiya. Dirty plans were obviously set.

"If it comes down to dealing with the Rosewald guy, wouldn't Orion be better for this situation?" Kikinoji asked. "He seems to know the guy, so why not poke at all his sore spots and go for the kill man?"

"It's not so easy." Tatsuge shook his head, counting on his fingers. "Firstly, Kanae is powerful. But as you said, he has a rather weak mental strength. Secondly, Orion is a noble. He knows Kanae, and if he is not killed right in that battle, his affiliation with Aogiri would be exposed and a lot of Falkenrath's connections would be broken due to distrust. Thirdly, Akuryou has explicitly said that orders from above would like him alive. Not sure what they want with him, but it doesn't sound good."

"This task is less mundane than I expected." Kikinoji had a few beads of sweat on his brow now. "So we can't kill him, and need to protect Orion's identity by keeping them away from each other. Greaaaaaaat. And Torso."

They halted as they saw Mutsuki kick Nutcracker away, running away.

"Haha, that resistance and will to live reminds me of someone we know." Kikinoji laughed, wanting Tatsuge to at least get into a better mood.

"Yeah." Gladly so, he smiled wryly at the remembrance of Luna and their meeting: not a very pleasant one for her case. Once the Auction was over, Tatsuge was set on asking Miharu to get info on how she was doing through her human connections.

Out of a sudden, Kikinoji had pulled him over to the side, pushing them into one of the emergency exits. He carefully peeked through the glass as a purple-haired ghoul had quickly dashed forward towards the 'prize', and let out a groan.

In the storage room, Mutsuki was thinking over the operation. From what Uta had told him; that no one would come to save him; the operation was no secret. But either way the ghouls that knew let it happen either way, making him question their motives. As he tried to piece together the mystery, a shadow came over his figure, halting his train of thoughts. His breath hitched as he recognised the ghoul as the one that was bidding fiercely over him, a rather crooked smile on his face as he greeted him.

His body crawled backwards, only to hit the wall behind. There was no way for him to escape this narrow storage room. The ghoul laughed, mentioning the need of 'sampling' his taste to see if it was exquisite enough to his master's tastes. Mutsuki braced himself as a strike went across his face, licking his blood from his hands. Kanae's eyes had teared, another series of laughters escaping his body as he commented on the taste: it was what he needed, just what his master needed-

"GRAHHHHH!"

Torso had gotten in the way, grappling Kanae in the process. He was out of his mind. Several heavy blows were dealt onto the other, without a sign of stopping anytime soon. Seeing this as a chance to escape: as well as being fearful of Torso, Mutsuki slipped past the two and began running away. Unfortunately Torso's energy was losing out, and Kanae pierced his kagune into the half-ghoul's body. It left him bleeding profusely, still limping as fast as he could away from them.

"Wait...! I- I'm, sorry! I'm sorry for that time!"

"How dare you...!" Infuriated at being interrupted, he'd proceeded to return the favour.

"I'm sorry Mr. Auctioneer, but we'll be taking him." Tatsuge's rinkaku had easily hauled Torso, who was badly beaten up, over to his side and sighed as he fixed his mask into place. "We'll keep you busy in the mean time."

Without any warning Kikinoji had already displayed his bikaku, only giving Kanae time to block his vicious attacks while Tatsuge had brought Torso elsewhere, probably coming back again later. Annoyed, Kanae attempted to hit his sides but to no avail. Kikinoji was unexpectedly flexible, spinning mid-air to deflect all of his opponent's attacks.

It did not help that there were odd spikes that managed to cut the tips of his rinkaku, even. Kanae rushed forward, trying the catch Kikinoji in a closer range so that he might be able to pierce him through, leading them further down the hallway. Slightly distracted by the noise from the upper floor which he presumed was the CCG, Kikinoji was flung into the wall, the impact almost destroying it completely. He stood back up with a limp, licking his blood of his lips. His signature smile came across his face, heart beating with excitement.

"I didn't know that the Tsukiyama's were _that _strong!" He exclaimed dramatically, eyeing Kanae's face as it distorted into an angry and disgusted expression. "I'm touched. Let's continue sometime, eh? By the way, I'm Crowley."

Disappointed that he heard Tatsuge's call to leave, Kikinoji did a final gesture of breaking the ground in front of Kanae, blocking his view before kicking him down onto the ground. With that, he ran the fastest he could, knowing that if the fight continued he would not have faired well. Narrow spaces were terrible for him, after all. Kanae cursed as he wiped his blood away from his cheek, promising to get revenge some day.

* * *

Authors Notes: I'm VERY sorry for the super late chapter. Really. I was really worried about getting some information wrong (which I did every time I checked back again D'X ) so please inform me if I missed some stuff out or got something wrong. On the bright side, I believe this is the longest chapter so far! Kikinoji's kagune has a slight semblance to Hinami's, so try to visualise that. Now I start to wonder if black was the right colour voice for it :p Oh yeah Torso's not really important lol but I kinda needed him alive, since I'm trying to keep to the original.

How was the short fight scene of Kikinoji vs Kanae? In terms of strength he is 3rd amongst the 6 of them. Try guessing where the rest of them place? I'll try to involve more of the other Aogiri characters as well, since only the big shots have been mentioned. I'll write the CCG peep's POV more often as well!

Thanks for reading! R&amp;R is absolutely appreciated! Bless you for waiting!


	17. Locking the Darkness

**Locking the Darkness**

_If I cannot tell you all my secrets,  
then I'll keep them locked up.  
I'll swallow the key,  
So that you'll keep coming back to find me._

* * *

"That queer bastard."

"Did he really kill a cat?"

"No shit man."

Life is not pretty.

"I heard he held a bloodstained knife."

"Seriously?! He killed his own family too, right? Scary!"

Please stop spreading false things about me. All I do is live and yet it has to be this way. If everyone were still alive...if only I could see my family again. My mind is filled with such things. So to say, it can't be helped. People are like that. But even if I repeat it to myself so many times, it's still draining me out. It's making me feel cold.

...

Right... is this how it will end? I can't breathe...

* * *

It seems like my wound is somewhat recovering after resting for awhile. I can move at a faster pace now... I got to hurry regroup with the others soon. Just have to keep walking like this...

"Well well, where are you going Kaetzchen?" That is- that auctioneer just now?!

"My, it seems like you have already recovered?" He laughed in a maniacal manner. "This is fantastic! This means...you can **repeatedly **entertain Master Shuu!"

I desperately swing the fire extinguisher I was dragging into him, releasing the lock in the process with vain hope that it would do at least some effect against him. He took in a deep breath, quickly swinging his arm towards me. It sent me flying backwards, dropping the fire extinguisher.

"The fact you heal means..." Snapping noises were made as he released his kagune, while I was still writhing on the ground. "**It's fine no matter how many times I hurt you!**"

His rinkaku mercilessly heads towards me. Defenceless. I close my eyes to prepare for the pain...that was replied with a warm arm around me, and the sound of the ghoul groaning. My eyes opened to see Sasaki...he was here...

"Sorry for being late." His eyes were still concentrated on the ghoul, his own rinkaku out and ready for the kill.

Urie then kicked him in the stomach, engaging in a battle of dodging before escaping backwards to a safe distance. The ghoul cringed and his nose twitched. His eyes enlarged with malice as he stared at Sasaki, alarmed.

"That smell...you're...are you...Sasaki Haise?!"

* * *

Kanae busied himself as he continously blocked the attacks from both Urie and Shirazu. With an annoyed expression, he twisted his body into a backwards flip, kicking them both in the faces. Immediately after he barely blocked Haise, who into him with his quinqe. The sight of him, the smell of him, the very existence of him- it made his blood boil.

He, who stole his master's smile. It made his master so miserable, the once refined and happy man now reduced to a half-dead being. Dirty...he dirtied his smile... he ruined everything... and now he had to pay.

"URIE! SHIRAZU!"

Distracted with his hate and battle against Haise, Kanae was easily sliced by the two. The cut was long, down to the bottom of his torso. Even if that was so, he tumbled onto the ground, his mind about his master. Urie stepped forward, dealing another blow to him- though it only missed by inches as another kagune wrapped itself around Kanae's body, bringing him towards its user.

"M-Matsumae..."

What seemed like little seedlings on the ground sprouted up, making a thick web that blocked their path. The team tried breaking it with their quinqe's but to no avail.

* * *

"The exit's here, Kokonoe." Yano's eyes flicked around the area. It seemed like the doves that were supposed to be here have not arrived yet. At the same time, he caught sight of Takizawa blocks behind...which may be the reason why they isn't anybody.

"Damn it...Miza's got that woman. I wanted to fight her." Kokonoe sighed, playing with his sleeve. Yano merely raised a brow at him before tapping his shoulder.

"She was in the same facility as your brother, right? Why do you want to fight her?"

"He praised her a lot. I want to see whether she really deserves the compliments."

"That's rather like you. But we have things on our hands right now..."

Several investigators ran down the hallway, stopping abruptly at the sight of the two ghouls. They readied their quinqe's one of them on the receiver.

"We are engaging battle agaisnt Seraph and an identified ghoul!" The man's voice was rather rough for his figure. He was rather young as well, being the leader of a squad. Yano noted his light brown hair and how it was styled.

"Oh. You must be Oikawa's brother." He stated bluntly. A slightly amused smile crept onto his face, hidden by his gas mask, as the man's eyes widened. "Let's just say our captain made his head go off like an alarm."

"That's not very funny, Sera." Kokonoe was already wrapping his bikaku around his subordinate's body, crushing it. His blood dripped into his mouth, though a dissatisfied expression was on his face. "Bad. Geez, I'm getting a bit hungry here."

He swung the corpse at his next attacker, the investigator's lance piercing through his friend who was still barely alive. Horrified, he pulled out it weapon only to hear the sound of a forced gasp before the gurgling gushing of blood. With conviction, the lancer swung relentlessly, cursing each time. As he pushed forward, he realised that Kokonoe's hair was green.

"I've heard about a ghoul with green hair before!" He gasped, turning around slightly to see if his commander was still there. The older Oikawa only nodded, knees on the ground. He was not attacking at all. The rest of their team mates were left somehow nailed onto the walls. "H-He was called Okazu and helped made quinqes until Mado Kureo found out he was a ghoul! B-But I heard that he was killed by the Aogiri for betrayal!"

"Good...info..." Oikawa stared at the necklace that was dropped onto the ground in front of him. Yano sighed deeply, kneeling down to his level. "Nagi...they lied to me. They said they posted him somewhere else! Nagi, I only had him left!"

"Leader-"

"You. Before spouting bullshit about my brother, how about you open your eyes a little wider!" His bikaku pierced through his right eye, creating screams of agony. Still in intact, he put it into his mouth. "You're better than your friend. Both fighting and taste."

"AHHHHHHHHHHHH! MY EYE! MY EYE!" Kokonoe felt that the hollowness of his eye socket was rather mesmerising. It bled more than what he'd usually seen- is this what happens when you torture your victims? Their hearts beat faster and pump more blood after all. It made him want to see more.

"NO, PLEASE NO MORE!" Scrambling backwards the lance was thrown at him suddenly like a javelin, piercing into his body. "Aha...hahaha..."

"Stupid. You just threw your weapon." He merely pulled it out and set it on the ground. "Our captain always said to never throw a weapon if you don't have others. Looks like your captain didn't...and he's being useless over there."

"So his name was Oikawa Nagi. Well Nori-san, are you satisfied now?" Yano cocked his head to the side. A rather crooked smile formed on the leader's face. "Hm?"

"Yes. I don't want to live any more, please kill me."

"NORI-SAN DON'T DO THIS! DON'T LISTEN TO HIM!"

"Sorry. I...only joined because I wanted to be by Nagi's side..."

"NO-"

Nori's hand reached out as he saw what looked like an angel to him. Its wings were so white that it covered his whole vision. He felt a soft sensation covering his body before a feeling of electrocution. His eyes began to bleed, as well as his nose, mouth and ears. But, he was still alive. Rolling his eyes to meet the ghoul's once more, he coughed.

"Y-Your...captain...good...unlike...me..."

His arms, legs and head were cleanly cut right after. Kokonoe watched, quite impressed as he blindly kicked the last investigator in the shin and shut him up by pulling off his jaw and piercing his neck. Using the removed jaw as a cup, he filled it with some blood and drunk off it.

"Say, what did you do that? Being a merciful guy to that one fellow and just nailing the other guys into the wall like that?" He picked up the receiver, only to hear a man claiming that the team they were fighting were dead. The signal then died.

"I like to think about certain human's I've killed. Some of their lives are interesting. If being like that allows me to hear more, I'll gladly do it." Yano karate chopped Kokonoe on the head as he started laughing.

"You're very open-minded! But he does make me wonder...what is Captain and Orion doing right now?"

"I'm sure they've got things under control. C'mon. We have to support the others now."

"I got to ask Miza as soon as possible..."

"Help her first, then ask her questions."

"Got that!"

_I'm pretty sure that's not the full reason why you spared him, Yano. You're very warm hearted only to certain things and one of them is...our team. And even more, our captain. She knew him somehow, didn't she? My brother seems happy as her quinqe, but she's actually the one who finished him off and made him that way right? Well, I've kind of got that she's a one-eyed ghoul already. But still...she's so important to me. But still, I want to kill her._

_Captain~ I don't understand. I don't understand the way I love you._

* * *

Authors Notes: Late chapter again. Grrrrrr my brain is dying! A few changes to Kokonoe's personality if you haven't noticed. Hey, who does he kind of sound like to you now? Other than that, sorry for delaying Miharu and Orion lol. I just want even more time to think :'D Please give me ideas if you have any (why am I asking this). Oh yeah, about how she isn't treated like Kanae and Takizawa. Eto's interest in her is not as a 'pet' but maybe something like Hinami's. About Kanae's gender... we'll leave it for the next arc :p Whoops. Also, tips on fight scenes are VERY welcome. As you can see, I suck quite bad.

Thanks for sticking around for this uber short chapter. Oh yeah, I kinda started drawing the characters. See here: winterartino . deviantart . com The drawing of Miharu was pretty bad- I'll fix it sometime.

Thanks for reading! R&amp;R is very much appreciated! (insert desperate smile)


	18. Glow in the Darkness

**Glow in the Darkness**

_A single eye glows.  
Is that sadness, or malice?_

* * *

Urie clenched his teeth. He swallowed back the taste of disappointment to the back of throat as his eyes twitched at the sight of Mutsuki. Haise and the rest were to preoccupied to notice the signs of annoyance on his face, still discussing their routes. It just made him think of how pathetic and weak they were. They just couldn't get it. Recognition is for oneself, not as a group. There would always be someone lagging behind. And that was unacceptable. For Urie, at least.

"Urie, please retreat with Mutsuki. I leave him up to you. I know you want to stay on but...I can only rely on you." Haise was slightly nervous to see Urie's reaction. His lips quivered slightly.

"...Okay. I'll do it." He nodded. Haise sighed in relief.

"Saiko and Shirazu, go with Hayashimura towards Nutcracker. I will face Owl myself."

"This is absurd! Why did you accept it?!" Shirazu was only patted on the shoulder by Hayashimura. An SS ranked ghoul, taken on alone? That was crazy. It might be Haise they were talking about but that was too much. "Sassan-"

"Shirazu." Hayashimura pulled him along. "It can't be helped. This is an order from Washuu. Don't you know how high up he is? It has been heard that he even killed an entire family of ghouls in Germany."

"..."

They all separated. Urie looked at Mutsuki beside him, smirking slightly. As if he'd let this chance slip through his hands. He looked forward, thinking of words to say.

"Um...thanks for saving me, Urie." Mutsuki smiled meekly. "Sorry for being so weak."

"No problem." Glad that you know it. "..."

"What's wrong?"

"Sorry Mutsuki, this place is so big I kind of forgot which way was the exit..." He scratched his head._ Please buy it._

"Oh...! Uh, don't worry, it happens to everyone. I'm sure I can manage for a while."

"How about we turn to the right at that junction?"

"Okay."

_Heh. He's such an idiot that it took almost no effort to deceive him. I'm sure that way is where all the pathetic ghouls are hiding to escape. And... Big Madam will be there. I'll am going to kill her and get the credit- no I will kill her and get the credit. Get the credits..._

"Urie, are you alright?" Mutsuki cocked his head to the side as Urie immersed himself in his own thoughts. He must've looked out of it. "You don't have to worry too much, you know."

"Yeah thanks, I'm fine."

* * *

Mutsuki sucked a breath as Urie stepped up, looking down from above the stage. A smirk was worn on his face. Whatever was down there, Mutsuki knew it was not good. Especially since he was still injured.

"What's down there?" Urie pointed towards the right. Mutsuki crawled forward, his eye widened when he saw the source of his comrade's joy.

"Ghouls. The ones that were participating in the auction." He gave a small chuckle. "How pathetic, running away like that."

_Yes, this is it. Since Mutsuki is injured he won't be able to do much. Even if he could, I don't think he would be much of a hinderance to my credits since he's not very strong either way... and look over there. How fun. It's Big Madam. I'll soon have her head on a platter._

"Don't worry, I still can fight...for a bit." Mutsuki held onto the knives that he was given earlier. Urie gave him a false look of concern.

"Yeah. I've got our backs."

He jumped down, his quinqe ready in hand. His white uniform made him seem like an Angel of Death decending upon its unfortunate victims, greeting them with the firm slash through their bodies. The ghouls flailed and screamed as they scrambled towards the exit, begging their Aogiri bodyguards to defend them.

"A mere human can't kill me!" A masked ghoul gave a nervous smirk, his kagune released and charging towards the dove. "W-hat...?"

He and four others flopped onto the floor, their stomachs now with gaping holes. They screamed even louder, their faces now without a shred of life. Urie laughed uncontrollably. This is the power he wanted, with these mongrels crawling and begging him for mercy. Each drop of blood that stained his coat contributed to his blood lust. Such an uncontrollable craving-

"WARRRGHHH!" His head swung back to see a kagune thrown at him from his blind spot, just right in front of his eyes-

"Yo, I got your back." Suzuya swung his scythe into the hordes of ghouls. Urie gave a silent nod, now accessing the amount of honour and credit he would receive.

_I guess sharing it with Suzuya isn't too bad... he's not a bad fighter, and I wouldn't lose too much with him around. Well, I should just let him be here and get some credit for himself. Besides, what I'm aiming for is right there..._

* * *

The hallway was silent. Two people walked onwards without any words, their black cloaks now stained with blood. Their surroundings were eerily quiet as well. Their soundless footsteps stopped at the bloodied scene of a group of heavily disfigured investigators. One them gave an impressed whistle, her partner simply sighing. He leaned down towards one of them, picking up an identification card. His eyes narrowed and showed it to his captain immediately. She nodded, prodding him to leave it alone and continue walking.

It wasn't long before they stopped again, looking down at a headless body. There was a blood trail moving down the corridor, stopping at a squelched, inrecognisable face. Beside it was a suitcase that held a quinqe, now with a hole in it. It was obvious that their attacker had made it a point to disarm them despite being fully capable of killing them immediately. What a sadist.

Kicking the buff body to its right side, a receiver was still intact underneath it. Had they spoken a word, they would have been ambushed by more doves. Being a koukaku, it was already tiring earlier. But of course the captain and her weapons were quite energetic after a few good meals. She picked it up, clearly up to no good.

"- Rank 1 reporting. Atou Daisuke has been beheaded. His team is dead as well." A few gasps were heard from over the receiver. A familiar, mellow voice responded.

"Were you able to identify the ghoul?"

"I believe it is the act of the ghoul Rank 1 Sasaki Haise has been sent after, since this is the only other route towards that location."

"Hm, I see. We will add that to the database. What is your name?" The commander frowned as he heard a familiar, soft giggle that might have belonged to a missing person.

"Well, Matsuri-kun. You don't have to worry about your promotion." The report was finished with the sound of the receiver being crushed, now only leaving a screeching noise. Washuu Matsuri could only continue frowning at what he had heard. But, the static over the radio had masked it too much for him to be able to recognise the voice completely.

Miharu left the scene was a satisfied grin on her face. Orion was extremely displeased with whatever she had just done. Her taunting was usually overboard, but this was way too risky. He grabbed her shoulder and pulled her back.

"Captain! Get a grip on yourself, this operation-"

"Orion, I know what I'm doing." She smiled. To his horror, the snake coiled around her neck nodded its head. "I'm not a person who bawls over the past like that Kanae boy. Ah, boy is the wrong word isn't it."

"Indeed it is..." Orion's eyes shifted around. "But still, what were you planning to do by saying that?"

"Well I kinda liked Atou so I'm doing him a bit of service." She deadpanned. "I hope I've triggered a few buttons in that asshole's head and... let's go and visit Owl shall we?"

"I'll accept this one." Orion could not contain the slight relief that he felt when he watched Miharu fearlessly speak to that Washuu. The one who killed off most of the Rosewalds and left Kanae and _his sister _in an odd state. But the very thought of revenge did not corrupt his mind. "By the way, I've never seen you use your kagune."

"Yeah, I don't really use it. While that might be so, I do use something else, you know?" Orion could sense that her eye was glowing red from behind that blindfold. "Cocoa and Irina aren't my only companions."

"...Kakuja."

Orion bit his lips as they saw the rest of teamates in the distance. _In the end, Captain... you're still a hateful scientist._

* * *

_Those demons had put them into a corner. All sorts of weapons were pointed at them. The gas was also released, reducing their rc cells. Kokonoe breathed heavily, but each breath hurt his insides. They were in a disadvantaged situation. This was an unplanned mission, a suicide mission that he'd rather have not taken. He was working separately from group after a long time, and co-operation had no definition in their dictionaries with these group of people. He realised that he was terrible at adapting to a new environment. It made him feel slightly sour, but the thought of his brother persevering even with humans made him feel a bit better. But it didn't change the fact that he was dying with a group of strangers; grunts. It also hit him that outside his small little world, he didn't mean much to the Aogiri._

_His naive mind could suddenly realise and understand his place in the world, what exactly he'd been through and what his leader had been trying to convey to him this entire time. With this shred of confidence, he felt his kagune change slightly in shape. He had no time to look at it but just wipe out whatever that was trying to kill him; whatever that was in his way. Bodies tumbled, and he loved every bit of it. He wondered why he hadn't realised it earlier._

_What brought him back to earth from his killing spree was the sound of his skull cracking. Followed by it, was the sound and feeling of blood spraying into his face. He didn't kill that person who managed to land that hit on him. He felt slightly peeved at it. But when he looked around again, nothing was after him. All there was, was a garden of corpses. His eyes met with blindfolded ones. But there was something weird with this picture. It was as if she had spider legs on her back, but just a pair less. She patted his head gently, and warm tears begun to slide down his face. Perhaps, this was what his brother was keeping him from._

_"Good to see that your eyes have widened, but aren't you getting too excited about knowing what you're supposed to know already?" _

_"K-Kaichou... I'm sorry... but why are you here?" _

_"I'm here to pick you up, Plastic-kun. I never opted for any of my men to come here. Come on. It's your 20th birthday today."_

_"Hehe, thank you. Thank you for picking me up."_

_"You're starting to laugh like me~"_

* * *

Authors Notes: I really doubt what I have written this chapter. I hope I've got everyone in character! Oh yeah sorry guys, ain't got much action with Miharu and Orion this arc actually! (Think about their backgrounds and look at the next arc- you'll know what's coming) Well looks like everyone's on about yandere Kokonoe but I can't believe I actually got so many people by surprise because he had lots of signs (he's cray for his brother man, c'mon) So, what do you think is going on between Matsuri and Miharu...and most importantly if I have ruined anything because TG has such a solid story that bringing OCs is like committing a crime X'D

Sorry for short chapters. My mind...is kind of rotting in card games in the moment. I'm sorry. Fate Grand/Order has summoned me, an E-rank luck master who is cursed by Kotomine- okay I'll stop.

Thanks for reading! R&amp;R is so damn appreciated to the point that I WILL BOW TO YOU if I see you!


	19. Chocking the Darkness

**Chocking the Darkness**

_And they all fell down._

* * *

It was easy to tell who didn't do much this time around. From Kikinoji's dissatisfied expression to Kokonoe's excited smile at seeing his commander, Miharu could say that this operation wasn't over yet. After all, Eto didn't call her in and told her that _it's going to be really fun _for no reason. She patted Kikinoji on the shoulder, before heading over to Yano's side. At the same time, she gave Kokonoe a good look: his usual bright green eyes were dark, and he gave her a discerning expression.

Looks like the fact she was a one-eyed ghoul was busted. So was the fact that Kanou had nothing to do with Cocoa. Either way, it didn't bother her much. It has been a few good years they had been stuck together after all.

"Oh lookie. Owl's gotten quite perky." Kikinoji deadpanned, still quite disappointed. "Oh. He's having fun. Man, he's got good stuff."

"Don't worry Crowley, the operation isn't over yet. I mean, we can still fight someone later...right?" Kokonoe stepped behind Yano as he was given a glare.

"Yeah, right. Says the guy who just went happy nuts in a great fight of his own just now! Geez Captain, you really like putting me at no action areas don't you. Speaking of which, you took the direction of which Owl came by right? What did it look like?"

"Gory as expected." Orion gestured for them to continue moving ahead. "Special Associate Class Atou, caught off caught and got beheaded real good. Whole team eliminated."

"Its happening...we should stay here and watch."

They all heeded to Yano's advice, settling themselves at the highest spot of the hall. Takizawa let out a shrill laughter as he saw Sasaki Haise arrive, obviously there to fight him. His expression deprived of its sanity, and his skin was pale and blemished, resembling a dying corpse. As much as she was excited for this, Miharu sighed. _Can't help but feel kinda disappointed, really._

* * *

**Just what made him so special that he was considered Kanou's 'masterpiece'? **The man's sour memories of being left as second followed him through to his next phase in life. Perhaps, it became a principal of life of him. To become the first. Being weak used to be his forte. Standing behind the people who were stronger than him, only admiring. Working harder than others only to have them surpass you in months. Even without his memories, Sasaki Haise stood firm like he did before. It pleased Kanou a lot, much to Takizawa's distaste.

_Indeed...Kaneki Ken is my finest masterpiece._

Ripping him to pieces would work well for showing who, just who indeed, was the best. With those foolishly determined eyes, he walked forward. Takizawa could only say he was motivated to have that expression off his face. Little did he know that he himself had a similar glimmer of determination, though rather twisted.

Kaneki, or Haise, stared at him.

"A never-changing experiment is a terrible experiment. Isn't it?" Miharu gave a small chuckle. Yano and Orion shared glances for they understood what she meant. "Look. Their minds are broken. Watch closely."

It seemed like when they arrived, the battle was already on halfway. Haise was easily thrown onto the ground face first, only to dodge the next attack and strangle Takizawa with his legs. The distorted ghoul gave a disgusted growl, merely giving the comment of "I don't like men's balls" before tossing the dove to the other side. His arms and legs twisted as his body hit the wall violently, tumbling down rather lifelessly. Takizawa approached him slowly, opening his mouth to speak. A rather loathful voice came from it, one from the past.

"There's a huge gap between the first and the second...there's a **huuuuuge **gap." His arms moved about dramatically, looking down at the other's slumped figure. "Being second is just consolation for losers. Yes...a consolation for them not to think that, as long as there's someone above them, they're nothing but a loser. I want to prove to myself now...that you were that doctor's masterpiece. I wonder...how about now?"

With the fling of his wrist, Haise was thrown up into the air, writhing in pain. Takizawa wrapped his kagune around his body and made a hole in the wall, bringing the other half-ghoul with him. They could clearly hear the screams of pain from outside, as well as his body thudding loudly against the surface of the building. Miharu folded her arms and walked away from the now empty area. Tatsuge, who was silent for almost the entirety of the day, finally spoke up.

"Say. What does it mean to be the second or the first? What exactly does it mean to prove yourself worthy? I thought living it out in this kind of world was enough." Most certainly Tatsuge couldn't understand. He was someone living in the alleys scavenging and having to create a living out of nothing. "Captain. What exactly is the _best?_"

"Nothing is." Her reply was blunt and easy. "But you see, some people see things from a telescope. There's nothing else but that one bright star you wish to reach for instead of using your own two eyes to reach out for the entire sky. Oh well, I never bothered with that kinda thing."

"So, are we going up to continue watching?" Yano inquired, seeing that time was clicking away. Miharu looked around, seeing nothing much but blood and wreckage. "Seems like it'd be dangerous to keep following and watching them."

"You're right. Let's split into threes now. Kokonoe and Yano, come with me. Orion, Kikinoji and Tatsuge, go towards where Big Madam is. They need more support since our grunts are getting wrecked. We'll be heading towards the entrance." Kokonoe felt a shudder down his spine as she flashed him another one of her all-knowing smiles. She knew he wanted to go where Miza was as soon as possible.

* * *

"How was it? Looks like you got hit." The green-haired ghoul bent down to her injury, sniffing it and inspecting it carefully. The young woman stepped away from him as he began to get a little too disturbing. "Did you have fun? Was she strong? What quinqe-"

"Agh, shut up! You're so noisy. I had to leave because Yotsume said that we were to retreat and help Ayato and Naki. She was strong alright, right around my level." Miza huffed impatiently. Their relationship was an odd one, a quite recently formed bond. She had no idea that someone who had a sweet and overly polite demeanour could turn into such a pesky, trigger happy and _still rather sweet _person with a snap. "So what about you? You saw **that **right?"

"Yeah we did." Kokonoe replied. They all then turned their heads as a slight tapping noise from over the announcer. Someone cleared their throat, the sounds they made sounding quite croaky. Another person's laboured breathing could be heard faintly.

_"Testiiing~ All right! Its convenient to have this thing around here, huh? So, let's just start the show!" _Yano's ears twitched as Takizawa laughed and brought the other person closer to the microphone. _"Okay~"_

_**"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! AGHHHH! AHHHHHH!"**_

"...Looks like Seidou has really gotten to a whole new level." The captain, although saying this with a smirk, held a voice of disdain. "Will he ever prove to be at 100 points, I wonder?"

* * *

"Tell me. Who is Rank 1 Sasaki fighting?!" Akira screamed into the receiver. On the other side, the Washuu merely flicked his eyes over the screen, his eyes upon the stage hall on the upper floor. His breath was calm and steady, behaviour still cold. "Tell me!"

No response.

Matsuri stared into the screens, tapping his chin as he processed his next course of action. It seemed like the transportation of materials was going well since most of the powerful ghouls were in the Auction, and the ones blocking the road were just pesky disturbances. Seeing to how many people died, reinforcements should be necessary especially since they were still unaware of how powerful certain ghouls are like the S ranked one fighting Sasaki. He simply leaned back into chair, clearly not wanting to bother with Akira.

_"You sure lead that team __**well. **__Note the sarcasm. They all died except you, Matsuri-kun."_

* * *

Authors Notes: I'm sorry for the late and short chapter. Honestly I'm kinda a bit lost here since IMO Ishida's not the best at drawing fight scenes. I can't seem to really catch what's going on and I have to read it over and over to kind of get a more vivid imagery of what's going on. This chapter is just the same scenes from the manga but with Miharu and co' added in. A HUGE SORRY if you found them watching Haise and Takizawa fight boring. I thought it was logical that they didn't intervene and just left side comments and have some self-realisation. From the knick-knacks you've seen about Miharu and Takizawa, what do you think she actually feels about him?

Writing at 2.50 am isn't really great but oh well.

Thanks for reading! R&amp;R really appreciated! (Did you see Chp 55&amp;56\. Holy shit. Seriously. How am I going to write that in...)


	20. Separate the Darkness

**Separate**** the Darkness**

_Expect the unexpected.  
Who has the key this time?  
_

* * *

"Aisaka-san."

She sat by the edge of the railings, cleaning her bow and arrows. The metal head of the sharpened arrow glinted under the faint, golden lights emitted by the chandeliers. Her white uniform was slightly stained with blood, but far less than her partner had. With the polishing of the arrows done, she placed them into its shaft and eyed a single, odd-looking arrow amongst the rest.

"Aisaka-san." She turned to face the sighing man beside her. "We have to move to the main hall."

"Okay." She stood up and simply walked ahead without saying anything else to him. He gave an annoyed grunt at her odd behaviour. "What is it?"

"You're being weird." He huffed. "Is there something on your mind?"

"Yes." She responded honestly. The strength in her eyes remained, absorbing him into them until she walked faster. The investigator was always curious about this woman, whom he had partnered with a year ago after she got transferred over from the Kyoto branch.

"Is it...about the time where you were captured by the Aogiri?" He gulped the rest of his words as he saw her clench on tightly onto her bow.

"Iori."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to ask such a sensitive question. I was just concerned about you." Iori heaved a sigh of relief as her muscles started to relax. "Orders say that the main hall is overflowing with ghouls. Apparently they were hiding there, and a lot of Aogiri members are guarding them as well. The Suzuya squad and two members of the Quinx squad are already there. Big Madam has fled into the next room."

"If they're a lot of them, using _this _arrow will end it all." Iori nodded solemnly to her words. "Iori, I want you to secure the route into the next room for the Suzuya squad so that I can launch it without damaging them."

"Roger that." He glanced at her as they moved forward, wondering what happened during her imprisonment that made her the woman she is today.

* * *

Kikinoji's heart pumped with excitement. Bloodlust was clearly displayed in his bulging red eyes, the sound of his breath being the loudest thing that could be heard. But there was a certain, recognisable scent that kept him to his ground. Whatever it was, it didn't give him a great vibe. Somewhere of the back of his head, he could name the person with this scent, but it just didn't click. It dulled his excitement, but not completely.

"What now Crowley? Did you detect something?" They were quite close to the back entrance to the hall when Orion decided to stop. He noticed Kikinoji's features contort as they got closer and closer. It was not an expression of excitement. "...Crowley?"

"I smell someone familiar, but I can't remember who." He frowned. "Never mind me. Let's go."

Orion slipped into the door first, lucky that the squad of investigators was not a large amount and were all occupied with killing the rest to take notice of the three new presences that were in the room. Not that it would last long though. With his senses being the best out of the rest, Kikinoji scanned the room and constantly sniffed the air. When he nodded, Tatsuge jumped out from behind one of the chairs and ambushed an investigator with a koukaku spear as a weapon.

"From where-?!"

"Who knows~" Tatsuge winked, with Orion gagging in disgust at his actions. "You're up against a terrible opponent."

"Tch!" As he spun the spear around, he realised what the ghoul meant. "Rinkaku-!"

"You get a point for getting that." The investigator jumped away from his attacker as the red tentacles came flying in his direction, barely dodging each of them.

"Crowley block the door to the next room. I'll take command of this area." With that, the both of them ran past the two. Of course, the human would not stay silent about this.

"Three more ghouls have entered! One of them is Crowley!" He screamed as he activated the defensive system on his weapon. His lance opened up into an umbrella-like, metallic shield, slowly moving backwards as he felt the recoil of the rapid hits against it. With his free hand, he whipped out his ukaku quinqe and shot from above the shield.

"Hey, you're not very smart huh." Rolling his eyes, Tatsuge twirled his rinkaku together, smashing it into the shield in one hit. As the quinqe broke into pieces, the investigator ran away whilst still shooting at him. "We're not done yet, come backkkkkk!"

With abnormal speed, Tatsuge had happily appeared in front of him in a step, feeling the several ukaku shots at point blank. It didn't affect him much at all, only laughing at the investigator's last efforts to kill him before cracking his body into half. The sound of his spine breaking overlapped the noises of clashing quinqes and kagune, many taking interest in it.

"Whew bro, you've got quite the killer blow there!" Kikinoji laughed, only to shut his mouth quickly again when the lancer had thrown his quinqe in his direction, quickly picking it up again to thrust at him. The footwork of this investigator was inhumane- when he dropped his lance, he easily kicked back up for use again. He seemed to have covered the tip of it with something- clearly some sort of rc depleting chemical that would prove fatal to bikaku ghouls.

"Flare, go help him." Orion stood at the corner, giving out orders. Those that listened- which were not many- gave the investigators a hard time. He had already anticipated this situation, so he used many of those who refused to co-operate as his meat shields. It wasn't that he was tired from using his koukaku. In fact, he was probably the one who did the least action, but he was more of tactics and action.

"No thanks, shadow boy! I got em' myself!" He got closer towards his opponent, trying to disarm him as well as hit his pressure points. Kikinoji was determined to have this one torn alive.

"You heard him, shadow boy! Gimme something else to do!" Tatsuge grinned wildly, knowing the response that would arrive.

"Block the entrance! And STOP CALLING ME SHADOW BOY YOU BASTARDS!" By now he was fed up with that ridiculous name. He simply liked standing in the corner of the room, though it wasn't exactly the most practical location to be at. At least they didn't call him a 'Darth Vader wannabe' like Miharu did the other day. "Fucking infuriating. Both of you over there; tag team him. He's tough but he doesn't look very confident. Rinkaku and ukaku are a good combo."

"Abara-san!" A boomerang was thrown at the ukaku ghoul's forehead, making his vision go white for a while. Iori held his bloodied two sided-axe in his hands, panting furiously. He swung it around dangerously, Orion calling the two ghouls back again to avoid getting hit. "Are you okay?"

"Y-Yeah, I'm fine. Where is Aisaka-san?" Hanbee gulped as Iori's expression tensed up.

"Getting ready to shoot _that._" He approached Orion. "Meanwhile, I have to get all of you through the door before you get eradicated by it as well. That Washuu has no mercy and definitely doesn't mind us dying before his feet."

Knowing that his speed will bring strong disadvantages against such an opponent, Orion smashed the wall and the ground, blowing dust particles in their direction and backed away. His eyes widened as a familiar smell, probably the one Kikinoji was talking about earlier came closer. At the top of the stage, a woman with long, brown hair wielded a bow. And she definitely seemed like she wanted to destroy everything below her.

"Shit, Luna?!" He made sure he said it in a hushed voice. Tatsuge was too busy fighting to notice her presence. "I'll assume she'll launch an explosive. We have to finish up here quick..."

"Shadow boy we're not leaving here yet until I finish...this...FIGHT!" Losing three fingers and having his knee stabbed did not change this lancer's performance. He had already stabbed Kikinoji several times in the arm, only barely moving away as it directed towards his face, which was almost every second. He bent down slightly and launched his body forward, getting as close as possible. The investigator was caught by surprise when he was punched instead, leaving him staggering and bleeding from his mouth.

At the other end of the room, Luna propped the arrow onto the bow, ready to receive orders. She scanned the room, noting that most of the investigators were alive and close to the exit to the next room, in which the two Quinx members had entered. A lot of ghouls were killed, and the ones left were mostly professionally trained guards and the Aogiri. Iori seemed to be fairing well against the temporary commander.

"Abara-san, she's going to shoot it soon! We have to hurry!" Iori stopped himself from chasing Orion when he realised he was getting further and further away from the door. "Don't waste time following him, he's baiting us to die with him in the explosion."

"Crowley~ what are you planning?" Kikinoji couldn't spare Tatsuge a glance.

"I want to drink his blood!" He proclaimed loudly, his eyes stating all of his desires. "This fight is awesome! I need more! Hey, the last lance wielding guy I fought didn't die. Will you be the same? Can we meet and call each other rivals or will I kill you and eat you here?"

"...I'll live." He replied with a cold voice. "Crowley. I will defeat you."

"Your left hand has only two fingers left- I left your ring finger and thumb alone cause I was nice, y'know? Because Captain said that it was important... of course, if you get defeated I'll eat them first cause they hold sentimental value." Kikinoji seemed so childish that the man felt pity for him. But ghouls were predators. Placing that thought away he stood his ground.

"Jinnou-san!" Iori called out to him from the other side of the room. "Aisaka-san will be firing it in 2 minutes!" Kikinoji eyed the woman that had begun to charge up something within the arrow- something that smelt like a bunch of rc cells being produced.

"I'll be there...!"

"No you won't!" His black bikaku tail slapped him onto the ground and got ready to slice him into half when he threw a canister onto the ground.

"FLASHBANG!" He yelled, hoping that his team mates would close their eyes and cover their ears. Blindly he pulled away from the three ghouls and made his way to the exit, before pausing and waiting for the light to go away. Kikinoji wasn't going to let him lose just yet.

"1 minutes left!"

Kikinoji stretched his bikaku, the jagged-sides cutting the surface of Jinnou's chest as he finally felt the effects of blood-loss. The balance of his weapon in his hands was shaky, and it made it easily for anyone to disarm him. He took a quick glance around; Iori had succeeded in killing the ghouls blocking the door alongside Suzuya, and the ghoul that was commanding was beside Flare, most likely discussing a way to slip away from the room.

"Oi Crowley! We don't have much time left!" Orion set his eyes on the metal grid that was directly connected to the next room. "Hurry!"

"30 seconds left!"

"ARGHHH!" Jinnou staggered backwards, his feet bleeding. Kikinoji backed away as Suzuya's scythe cut through the air between them. "Thanks, Suzuya..."

"Tch, I'll do this quick!" He shuffled his feet, using the cement dust to irritate their eyes before stabbing Jinnou through the stomach. He quickly dived his hand into it, licking the blood off it and quickly propelled himself upwards where the metal grid was. "Mmm, this is really quite good. You better come back and fight me again, Jin-bro. If you don't die! AHAHAHA!"

Orion destroyed the metal plate and easily slipped himself through the vent with his small stature, followed by Tatsuge and Kikinoji.

"Aisaka, fire it." Matsuri's cold voice ordered from over the receiver.

"Understood."

In the nick of time, Jinnou flung himself through and shut the door quickly. The remaining ghouls could only say their prayers as the arrow hit the floor, exploding vigorously upon impact. The hall was covered in dust and rc gas, but the bloody corpses left on the ground and the blood splattered walls told how painful of a hit it was. In the other room, the lancer collapsed onto the ground, bleeding profusely.

"Jinnou-san hang in there! You can make it!"

"Abara-san, thanks... just give me first-aid and I'll be fine. Look, the Quinx are having trouble..."

Luna made sure that there were no ghouls around her before going downstairs to check for the human causalities. Fortunately there weren't too much. On the other hand, the amount of ghouls and their destroyed, fancy clothing disgusted her. Trying to be sophisticated whilst doing the crime of auctioneering humans was quite unbearable for her. She looked back to when she saw the three remaining ghouls go through the vent.

"Was that you, Tatsuge...?"

* * *

Authors Notes: Look who's back in the mix! A little more action going on their side since Kokonoe has had enough spotlight for now (or so I think). I was going to add a shorter (crappier) version of this fight in the previous chapter but I held it off for awhile because I thought something wasn't right. Glad that I did, actually. I'm not very sure of how to write Hanbee since he doesn't appear a lot. And the end of this arc is drawing closer...and I'm still wondering how to write the Rosewald Investigation arc because shit gets real.

Also, who exactly do you think Miharu is (from the scraps of information from previous chapters)?

Thanks for reading! R&amp;R super appreciated!


	21. Power in the Darkness

**Power in the Darkness**

_What is important to you  
Can be garbage to another  
_

* * *

Credits. Honour. Fame. It all eroded his half-dead mind as the immense power he had received took him over. The more he tore with the inhuman muscle protruding from his back, the more of that scent that overwhelmed his senses, he felt as if he had been liberated from the pain he had been living all his life. This moment was what he was waiting for. Or so his crazed mind thought. Twisting and turning from the _monsters' _grasp, he grinned wildly and salivated uncontrollably, piercing them and tossing them to an unknown corner. Frame 4. He didn't know it could be **this **exciting.

The knife-wielding bodyguards methodically surrounded him, preparing for a jump attack but they were easily cut through by the unstable Urie, who simply continued laughing at how easy life seemed to be with his new-found power. Mutsuki could only remain surprised and horrified at his current state, but was busy keeping the hoards of ghouls of himself. Urie flipped himself over and brutally kicked the pursuing ghoul's face, sticking himself onto the wall as more came to take him down.

The horrified Mutsuki was too busy thinking of how to get Urie in control to notice the ghoul that climbed into the room hastily, even though he destroyed the vent's grill with a loud bang. He eyed the situation carefully, beckoning the other two to crawl faster. While Big Madam was indeed supposed to be guarded immediately, Orion felt that it was a little too dangerous to jump in without knowing what in the world was that _thing _going on a rampage now. Fortunately Kikinoji had made his way into the vent before a loud explosion rung and shook the walls, shocking no one but himself.

Urie continued his unstoppable rampage, and Big Madam was obviously tremendously amused of his vitality. Her bikaku swished back and forth, waiting for her own moment to strike. Once the sliced pieces of her bodyguards were out of vision, she took a simple step forward, bent down and threw her bikaku upwards. A surprised but delighted yelp was made when Urie's koukaku twisted together and thrust at it, damaging it severely. Big Madam flopped backwards, easily overtaking him in speed and slapped his face several times for fun before grabbing him by his feet, slamming him down onto the concrete floor. He writhed and spasmed, as if he was being infested by something. The room silenced itself when he let out a cry of anguish.

All the recognition he ever wanted was never given to him no matter his efforts. No matter how much blood and sweat he put into anything, he would see that man, Takeomi, in his way, shaking the hands of those that _he _himself wanted to shake. That god-damned obstacle that probably did so much less then he did. And yes, that scum's father that let _his _father die because of foolish cowardice. Or so he thought. Or so he screamed. Sasaki. A man without his memories but still so compassionate and _successful. _In that span of time had he have Urie under his feet despite knowing more. And how he always seemed so far from that glory of maybe having Sasaki pleased with his efforts. His team mates as well, even if they had done such small things would they get praised for, while he quietly stood behind with blood in his hands.

Orion silently watched the poor man breakdown into pieces. In a way he could empathise, in way he couldn't. Because he couldn't hate Gisella, his older sister, for getting the recognition, the fame and want that he'd always wanted. Indeed, he entered Aogiri out of the indirect loneliness and pain she had inflicted onto him, that wavered like a shadow in the family. No matter how much he studied or trained, she would always be better. But their difference was that despite his brash and cold attitude he _noticed _that he had people that would accept and acknowledge him. But Urie probably was too blind to see that.

Tatsuge whistled as he caught sight of Kikinoji finally making his way into the room. Technically the Suzuya squad was a hallway away from their current location, and they had the severely injured Jinnou to take care of. He took a few step forward, albeit extremely carefully, towards the fight. Big Madam could see the strong reinforcements arrive, but had plans of her own. She signed for Tatsuge to stop where he was as she made her way to Urie.

Mutsuki made his way carefully to Urie's side, who was still in his state of ranting his life's worries, still too crazed to respond to the gesture. A sharp, tearing noise sounded, shocking his body as Urie's koukaku cleanly made it's way through his body. But despite the pain, Mutsuki smiled because his companion had snapped back to life, judging from the surprised expression and agap mouth. It was immediately removed from his body, but Mutsuki limply continued on to hug Urie kindly.

"It's okay now."

A few moments of silence endured, and the other Quinx could only let out a whisper.

"You're...a woman...?"

How familiar this was to Orion. Knowing someone that is close to you as a male your whole life to find that they're female. Tatsuge patted his head lightly as he grimaced at a few memories, before regaining his composure and slapping his hand away. At the same time, Kikinoji nudged the both of them as he heard the incoming rushed footsteps of the Suzuya Squad, and was quite pleased to smell Jinnou's blood wafting close. His wounds had covered up quite a bit from the lessened scent of iron.

"Ufufu...I'll consume you, little boy, then I will definitely get my hands on that precious beauty over there, my treasure..." Her laughter sent chills down Mutsuki's spine. None of them were in any condition to fight her, nor were they ever on par with her skills. It was then when he whisked his head over to the side to spot three more active ghouls, which meant that they were practically surrounded...

The Suzuya squad busted into the room, practically killing everything upon sight. Tatsuge was mesmerised by the sight of the flinging scythe for a moment before narrowly dodging Suzuya's strike. Suzuya tip-toed backwards and quickly dashed forward, turning his body mid-air so as to dodge the four rinkaku tentacles flying at him. He stared at the black mask with a white crack designed on it, trying to listen to the ghoul's breath. Surprised. But that wasn't what he was expecting...

Looking to wherever Tatsuge was staring at while blindly, but narrowly, dodging his attacks was the long, brown haired woman who had just launched the destructive arrow. She herself had froze seeing the familiar flash of styled red hair, just like when they had first met. Irritated at how he had stopped all logical functions, Orion kicked him to the other side and engaged in combat with Suzuya, who gave the 18 year old a few scares with the manipulative handling of his scythe before scurrying off to help take down Big Madam.

"Rei-chan! It's me, Mama, do you remember?"

Luna cringed as the overly sugar coated words were used by such a foul creature. Grimacing, she held onto her whip, but Iori pushed her back. His eyes held a certain light as he observed the other team's leader approach the ghoul, with no expression on his face. Big Madam stared at him hopefully, at least to spark some sort of morbid "happy memory" with her.

"Yeah. I remember." His voice held no joy, nor pain. "I don't hate you for anything alright? I'm just doing my job, Mama, so I'll have to kill you."

"You ungrateful brat! I never loved you anyway!" She spat, now howling with a sadistic laughter. "You're so useless to me, what an imbecile you are! You think what you're doing now will make someone love you? Hah! Jokes on you, the only time you're only worth is when I used you! Silly child!"

Abara hands closed the young man's eyes and ears, whispering gently.

"You wouldn't want to hear that."

With inheritant rage, Luna had already propped an arrow and aimed it right at the head. Nakarai, Tamaki and Mikage had quickly done the job of piercing her limb by limb, Iori slicing the wiggling tail repetitively. An odd smell emitted from the arrow as she drew back the string, a bunch garbled pleads from the _victim _before it was launched. It cleanly went into her forehead, drawing a spurt of blood and terrible writhing. The arrow head had started to slowly paralyse the ghoul in an agonizing manner, for it contained a dangerous, Rc killing chemical.

"Aisaka, did you just use the illegal chemical?" Nakarai questioned as the ghoul finally stopped moving.

"...that was the last of it in my office. I had to get rid of it." She mumbled, not very pleased with the stare she was being given. "Don't worry about it. Besides, it was dangerously absorbent."

She shot one of her arrows at Tatsuge's feet, causing him to jump backwards in shock. As if on queue Orion nodded at her, dragging him away as he tried to reach out to her, only to have his rinkaku cut by his very own comrade. Kikinoji gave him a pitiful stare as he allowed Orion to subdue him, dealing a lethal kick to his face. But unexpectedly Tatsuge was more durable than he seemed, but he kept quiet and let them drag him away.

"What are we going to do about those three ghouls?" Mikage looked at Luna, who simply sighed and set her bow on her back.

"Flare, Crowley, and an unknown commander ghoul. We must report this. But other than that, we should leave them. We have more important things to handle. They've already escaped either way."

"...Roger that, Aisaka-san."

Behind, Suzuya was released from Abara's hold, inspecting the body along with the others. His partner eyed him carefully as he leaned down towards it.

"Goodbye, father."

* * *

Miharu casually peeled the sword embedded in her chest and chuckled slightly, watching her wound close up firm and nicely. Akira gave her a disgusted stare as the blindfolded woman casually made her way down the stairwell to meet her. Tightening her grip on her whip, she steadied herself for the strike from the glowing, bright blue sword in her sworn enemy's hands. But it never came. Instead she twiddled around with her feet, a cheeky smile on her face as she tossed herself over the investigator, landing swiftly on her feet beside Miza, who simple urged her to stop playing around and move faster whilst dealing with an overly ecstatic green haired boy. She fired a few rounds of the ukaku quinqe she had, which was cleanly deflected by Kokonoe's bikaku tail that moved along with a slight, happy beat. Seeing the signal to move, she could only click her tongue at losing those few seconds that she could kill her. Kill Miharu, her ex co-worker who seemed to be working for the enemy now. With no further purpose on top of these flight of stairs, she rushed to follow the rest. Haise was in danger, and she needed to do something about it.

_Yes, writhe in agony. But when will you understand what I told you, perhaps? You're indulging too much on one side. You're not human. You're not a ghoul. You're both. So please stop trying to be one. Because it will only break your poor, crying mind even further. Further than the power you've attained, further than the love you never realised to you received. For what is garbage to you, can be important to another._

* * *

Authors Notes: Because I'm an asshole and decided to hold this up in my documents. Just kidding, I just got back from a two week "holiday" and missed Christmas with my family -.- Other than that, Happy New Year with this new chapter! To that guy who said that you hoped that this fanfic goes over 20 chapters: here you go, Chapter 21! But all of them are kinda short so...mehhhhhhh. Sorry for the really REALLY late update though. Now we're kinda finished on this side of the Auction, time for the finale of this arc! I was wondering if I should do some Christmas thing like the manga did, or jump straight into the next arc. I hope I captured the essence of Urie's state of mind and Suzuya's encounter with Big Madam.

Special thanks to all of you who have stuck around, have a good 2016!

Thanks for reading! R&amp;R much appreciated!


	22. Interfering with the Darkness

**Interfering with the Darkness**

_In the end, feelings always remain.  
But even if you manage to throw them away,  
you're nothing more than a husk._

_Utterly useless.  
_

* * *

Rows of tubes of encased ghouls, some of them with missing limbs, were floating silently. The metallic tables slightly stained with blood and scratches easily told what kind of work they did there. On the further right there was the farmed kagune from their last mission, which to he admittedly was looking forward to seeing the results. As he continued walking, he saw the girl he was looking for, now draped in a lab coat, fiddling with something in her hand. Open closer inspection, it was a finger. It was easy to tell that it belonged to a ghoul with the way it tried to regenerate itself. Upon seeing him, she dropped it onto the ground, greeting him silently with an annoyed look. He did the same, settling down on a seat in front of her.

"Why are you leaving out of a sudden?" He asked suspiciously, eyeing the documents she was arranging. "It is very obvious that it is not your father's best interest to have you leave his side so early on in life."

"My, you make it sound like I'm going to _die _once I leave the CCG." Her laughter held a tinge of hatred as she quickly slipped the papers into a file. "Kiji-san will do _completely _fine without me. Besides, who are you to speak of my father when you dismiss your own?"

"Silence. Do not speak about this now." He snapped, earning him another amused laughter from her. So to say, it further ruined his mood. "Just say what you need to say. I'm tired of being here."

"Hmmm, I suppose I'd like to say that you are a terrible leader." She hummed. "It really is a disappointment, isn't it. If only you listen to Yoshitoki-san when he gives advice rather than try to be an up-stuck thorn at his side. You really are wasted, huh. Kiji-san would've been the _perfect _father for you rather than me-"

"What did I tell you just now?" His patience was now running low. This girl clearly brought him here just to provoke him. "You are wasting my time. I am leaving."

"Ah, yes. Please do, because there's something I have to attend to."

* * *

Matsuri quickly realised who was speaking to him on the receiver earlier when he saw the purple-haired woman wield an all-too-familiar sword, killing swiftly and smoothly upon sight. He also understood why she had chosen a blindfold out of everything else- once upon a time he had told her that her smile could kill, and that she was easily identified through the dull glow of her hazel eyes. While rather pleased that she had listened to her ex-commander **and **senior at work, she was obviously an enemy now. Occasionally she would glance at the cameras with an amused grin, using hand-signs to say unnecessary remarks before breaking them. He had called in more investigators to block the route she was taking, but since most of the capable ones were busy with more dangerous ghouls, they were easily disposed of.

Again, he realised something. She was coming for him. He smirked at her futile attempt to take _revenge_ on someone as great as him, but he did note that she was going to really engage him in battle if no one could stop her soon as she was moving rather quickly...and he knew she would be dangerous in this agitated state. Curious to her unusual change of mood, he contemplated leaving his seat...but not now. Thinking, he had an idea. Another battle had just been completed somewhere else, and he was sure they could make it there in time. With a satisfied smirk, he pressed on a button to call up...

"Is something the matter, Sir?" The woman's dignified voice easily eased him up. If it was her, she would be able to heavily damage that half-ghoul. "I think I understand. Where am I supposed to go to?"

"As accurate as usual, Luna. Please take the corridor to your right from where you are along with Iori. There is a ghoul there I need you to eliminate. She is going towards the Control Room at an extremely fast pace. A quinqe user, and is very sentimental about them. You know what to do."

"Destroy the quinqes."

"Splendid. Start moving now, I expect results."

"Yes, Sir."

Another plan was up Miharu's sleeve than trying to kill him. With the destruction of those cameras and the elimination of those useless doves, now no annoying bugs will harm her injured men through this passageway and reach the escape area within the safety of Miza and the others. By now she knew that Matsuri had already sent someone capable after her, especially with the offensive hand signs she had given him for fun...but she didn't calculate that Luna and Iori would be her opponents. As she straightened her arm again, she whistled in surprise as the pair came into view.

"Long time no see. Seems like you still have Godou's dagger with you." Luna could feel the dagger strapped to her thigh, and it seemed to burn her as she continued speaking. After all, Miharu and Yano were the ones who collected it from the ruins of the house and gave it to her. "Matsuri-kun is cruel, isn't he? Even though you had just avoided hurting the three of them."

"I'm only doing my job." Luna's voice was sharp and cold, even Iori could feel it creep down his skin. He could feel himself feeling calmer, as if she were absorbing his anger for him. But it didn't stop the churning of his stomach. Her expression, was much more freezing than anything else. A pure, blank face. Void of feelings. "So, please don't hate me for this."

"...Aisaka-san. Please stand back. I'll do something about this." As if on queue, he moved forward...but she refused to budge. His own hands trembled, rattling the chains wrapping his axe. "Aisaka-san, why...?"

"No, Iori. This battle...is mine." Placing her bow into his hands, she readied her whip- the one from when she fought Tatsuge years ago- and stanced herself. Miharu felt her sword shake by itself as well, causing Luna to remember that destroying that sword...meant killing Cocoa. Who was Okazu. Her breath hitched and now she didn't look as confident, confusing Iori. "No, stay back..."

"Oh no Cocoa, you're withdrawing this? So I'm left with Irina? That's a bit dangerous...but I'll manage. You can rest now." Slithering back into his snake form, he slithered behind his wielder quickly. Iori's jaw was left open as he watched all sorts of mysteries and new things that unfolded to him. Everything happening was what he could say **impossible. **"Get that weird bayonet-looking thing out, Irina. I've done some nice upgrades to her, so watch and learn."

Truly enough, _Irina _had enlargened from _her _pistol form instantly into what seemed like a small shotgun, with an odd-looking bayonet that was crooked and jagged. Luna clenched her fist tightly onto her whip. She had to fight from a distance, and keep up with her speed to stop her from using _Precision Shot. _From behind, Iori shuddered away slowly as he realised just how much time and knowledge she had put into those quinqes. Destroying them would not only be difficult- it would be an absolute waste for them. If they managed to steal both quinqes...if only. With the dagger in her other hand, Luna had made the first move by dashing forward.

With a narrow miss, Miharu had pushed forward, almost stabbing the human through. With that, Luna drew back and hit the wall beside them, making the metal panels screech and fall onto the half-ghoul. With that delay, she softly called out to Iori to move to a more open space behind. A sweat formed on Iori's brow as he saw their opponent casually crawl up the mass of scrap and shoot at them from above. Luna kicked one of the broken metal pieces and blocked them, before allowing Iori to pull out his own ukaku quinqe, slowly generating its blow. Miharu looked on with interest, climbing down at the same time.

"Iori, that's incomplete...!"

"I know, but we have no choice... and you used that arrow anyway, so I'll risk this too!"

With that, the once silent corridor now blared brightly and loudly with the explosion. Rc gas spread, and Iori breathed in heavily. He was still quite blinded by the flash, and held Luna's hand as she dragged him away, taking the ranged weapon away from him. She fired several quick rounds at Miharu, who slid away with a cruel smirk before firing the same amount of shots but with much more accuracy. The finely-made black shards stabbed Luna in the arm, as well as managed to hit Iori even behind a screen. Miharu jumped away in slight surprise as a piece of debri was roughly kicked towards her. Her eyes burned into the other woman's cool, chilly skin. As if on queue... something stabbed Miharu through the stomach. A leftover sword from a dead comrade, taken from their previous battle. She had just lured her into a trap.

"Did we do it?!" Iori gasped in amazement and relief, but he looked up and bit his lip in confusion. "Aisaka-san...?"

"T-This isn't possible..." She walked backwards, visibly in fear. "You... that was coated with..."

"Oh my. This is the second time I've been pierced in the same spot. Looks like I'm getting rusty after sitting about for a long, long time. But I've just had a meal so I'm recovering rather quickly, eh? What do you think guys, its quite amazing right... this regeneration of _his._"

"**Move!**" He knocked his shocked partner aside, making her land roughly onto the ground. She glared at him angrily, but quickly softened her expression as he held onto his double-sided axe with an expression she could not describe. One similar to anger, determination and fear. It was more than obvious that he was more scared than Luna was. He knew well that Miharu was playing the part of a fool for her own amusement. The way her smile twisted every time they tried to save each other... the way she flipped her quinqe around as they stood up again... "Don't laugh at us! We are pathetic humans...but ghouls like you...should be burning in hell!"

"Ding-dong! You passed my test!" As if the battle was over, Miharu stored Irina and clapped her hands. "...you made me realise something. I better fix myself up and attend to my men before killing your scum bag leader. Tell him he's won this time, but not for long. Ah, I was an idiot. _A good leader should fight with his men..._"

"What the hell?! You're not getting away with this!" He spun his axe around in a smooth motion, destroying everything in his way. "Where did she-"

"Here's a your prize." She whispered into his ear from behind. With that, she drove a fist into his stomach. "Feel some pain in there."

He landed onto the ground motionless after screaming and spluttering blood. Despite this, Luna merely held onto her partner's unconscious body and stared. They were being spared, and it took her one whole battle to realise that. There was more to defeating Matsuri for Miharu, and she did not know the deeper reason to this. In Miharu's figure was a lost feeling, and Luna regretted not asking her anything prior to the battle. The stench of blood filled her nose and invaded her mind, leaving her in a state of blankness. She's had enough of all this.

* * *

Jinnou woke up to the sharp pain in his chest, and the numbness of his fingers. The left side of his cheek was warm and comfortable, making him shift slightly to see a long-haired man that looked down at him worriedly. Abara. So to say, he was grateful he could recognise him. He thought he was long gone after he lost conciousness. When the feeling of his hands returned, he twiddled with them: just that his index, middle and ring fingers on his right hand were now replaced with air. His bikaku lance quinqe, now broken in half, laid silently beside him. Looking around, it was still a battlefield. Suzuya was visibly cutting a ghoul in half, while the other ghouls fled the hall.

Other than that, his body could not move well. As he continued to shift around, Abara quietly settled him down with a finger on his lip and pointed at Suzuya, who was still fending off enemies. _I guess that means that he'd get distracted if I move too much. _It made him feel disappointed with himself. While getting away alive was quite the miracle, it still meant that he would be off his usual heavy duties for awhile... and maybe lose a lot of work permanently thanks to the missing fingers.

"Jinnou-san, how are you feeling?" The man that patched him up asked worriedly. He couldn't help but smile at his genuine concern.

"Really sore. And sad that my old quinqe broke." Sitting up finally, he carefully stretched himself. The long wound on his torso was still there, and it was making him extremely stiff. "Sorry for having you carry me around. I don't think I'm walking any time soon."

"That's fine, you've already done a lot yourself." That was true. It had been some time since he had participated in a battle this challenging, and since many people were deployed, he had spent most of his energy _trying _his best to protect the back of many. From the shouts from afar, he could hear something about the sudden appearance of an unknown SS rated ghoul, and some other ghoul who was aiming to have Matsuri's head but was driven off. "Aisaka-san and Tsukino-san drove away that ghoul. Amazing, aren't they?"

"Aisaka, huh. Must be hard on her."

"Oiiiii, so you're finally awake huh?" Suzuya's chirpy voice made him shift towards his direction. Now everyone was mending each other's injuries and the ghouls were all slaughtered. "Hamasaki Jin-san~"

"I guess I really can't stop you from saying my full name..." Taking his broken weapon in both hands, he tried to balance himself up to stand. Fortunately, he simply wobbled on his feet for a moment before standing up properly, surprising Abara. "I recovered quite quickly for a wound this big. Say, what happened to Nori?"

"About him..." Nakarai had a stoic expression, signalling the bad news. Jinnou let out a deep sigh, preparing himself. "...he's dead. No survivors. Aisaka and Tsukino found the team earlier."

"Oh no." The amount of people and investigators he failed to protect, and watched to die were many. But he steeled himself. For years and years he had. "I am crying after all these years, huh. Inaba is going to be mad at me."

"You did what you could. I'm sure that girl is proud of you." Nakarai mumbled. It was his first time seeing his senior let his tears run like tap water. "Though I've never met her before."

"Who knows. She was pretty feisty after all."

* * *

Orion pulled himself beside Tatsuge.

"Hey. Are you okay?"

"Wow shadow boy. You're being concerned for me?" The red-haired ghoul laughed dryly. Of course he would be concerned. Tatsuge was practically his caretaker since he entered Aogiri. Orion bit his lip as he noticed the unnatural, blatant hopelessness in the older man's eyes. He was looking for something to cling onto from his old fears. His fears of losing more people, more of his mind, to the same man: the Reaper, Arima. "I guess I should thank you, fufu."

"Still waiting for Captain with the rest, huh." Tatsuge nodded back, albeit quite worriedly. With a world-weary sigh, Orion folded his arms and looked over the place. Destroyed, strewn with bodies and blood and the trampling feet of humans. He closed his eyes. "I'll wait with you, I suppose. Hm? What's wrong?"

A drafty silence went by as a rinkaku tentacle brushed the side of his face gently, before spilling the blood of a stealthy dove on the back of his cloak. The human's facial features contorted, seemingly in pain and somewhat pity. The body fell onto the ground before rolling down the mountain of debris they were on, down the spiral of corpses and hell. Orion thanked Tatsuge with a small voice, and the gesture was acknowledged. This happened before. Years ago, the same people, waiting for their leader to come back. It felt natural somehow. It felt like they had to repay a favour that was never made.

"If I asked you to forgive me for separating you and your sister, would you?" A bitter smile formed on the latter's face. The former's brows knitted together at the question. With a quieter, but bittersweet tone, he asked again. "Would you?"

"I left home myself, not got kidnapped by a man who was bored with life." Orion spat, though he smiled when he heard Tatsuge chuckle. Unfortunately, Kokonoe broke into the serene sphere, a look of devastation on his face which was immediately understood. "Assemble! Move away from this area!"

"When is she going to come back...?" Kokonoe sighed as he hauled his way up into the gap, which greeted him with the night sky. As he expected, they were engaged by surprised investigators, but that didn't really bother him. His bikaku tail swished around restlessly, blindly killing the surrounding humans. Screams were left unheard in his wake, his eyes cast on the ground. "Oh, where is she... Kaichou..."

"I'm here."

His shoulders shook. Immediately, he whipped his head up to see his leader with her sword grinded into the last of their enemies. The others ran up to them quickly, knowing that they had not much time left. Miharu flashed them a confident smile, as if everything went as planned. But the palm of her right hand was a gaping hole, almost through the bone, dripping consistently as she held onto Cocoa. What made the wound was more than obvious. Kokonoe bit his lip.

"The trucks are here, hop on and move on."

"You sound like you're not getting on." Yano's voice held a certain annoyance.

"Not now, at least. Wouldn't you take a look to the noise over there?" Ayato was being hauled back as he screamed for Hinami with obvious desperation on his face. The others around him looked on pitifully, while reminding him of orders- which was to leave. From the corner of her eye, she could see Tatara and Eto, waiting patiently. The bandaged girl grinned at them.

"Oh, what a day." Miharu twirled around and hummed. "I still wanna kill him so bad..."

* * *

Authors Notes: LOOK WHO'S BACK HAHAHA. Actually I had this rotting in my computer for ages...but I had to revamp it several times before I was satisfied. I'm SO SORRY for the extremely late chapter, and the length still is kinda short (though its my longest so far). This really is a less climatic end than I wanted it to be, but my brain is dry. I need some comments over your feelings on my characters, since I'm trying to develop them the best I can. For fun, tell me who's your favourite! I'm also trying to set up a social media page to update on the status of my work, on Twitter perhaps- tell me if that's what you guys want.

Thanks for reading! R&amp;R much appreciated! *thanks for waiting for approximately 3 months lolololol*


	23. Eyes in the Darkness

**Eyes in the Darkness**

_Everyone can see...  
But you're the only one who looks closely._

* * *

"Miharu, do you believe in reincarnation?" They laid in the snow comfortably, in the midst of the night. The cold seemed to bother the purple-haired female, but the other remained unaffected by the almost freezing temperature. She reached towards the sky, as if looking for something even she herself could not see.

"Reincarnation?" Miharu replied in an almost whisper-like voice, unlike herself. She turned towards whatever Irina was gazing at, which were the constellations which were more than obvious with the lack of city lights. Although she would have liked to call the sight splendid, it didn't affect her emotions too much. The snow, coldness and darkness overwhelmed most of her senses, for she was human.

"You see, even if were to die, I'm sure I would be born again." A faint smile graced Irina's lips, illuminated by the moonlight. "I'll try my best to find you, so you better find for me too!"

"Sounds interesting. And cheesy." Miharu chuckled, earning a huff of disappointment. As the snow began to pile on top of their still bodies, she decided to sit up and stretch. But her friend laid as still as ever in the snow, as if she wanted to be buried. Without any words, Miharu simply continued gazing at the sky.

"Life." _Plainly, simply_. "The people whom have died, be it by others or myself. They lived like the stars, they died like the stars. But you're right. Just what is beautiful about the stars?" With that she shrugged the snow off her body as well, sitting to face Miharu. Her smile widened, one full of positivity. "If we didn't find this mesmerising in any way, why are we looking either way?"

"Curiousity, I guess." It had been a while since they had been there, and Miharu had gotten sick of watching the stars meaninglessly, now scratching letters into the snow. Bored, her friend had began singing a Christmas song to liven up the mood, which was a success as Miharu reverted back to a mischevious grin on her face. "If you're going to sing that song, where's your present for me?"

"Turn your back to me." The human obliged, allowing her ghoul friend to do her thing, her defenceless back faced towards her. She felt her hands go through her hair, tying it to the side of her head. The weight all concentrated on one side of her head felt rather odd, especially since she barely tied her hair either way. "It's done."

A black ribbon was tightly wrapped around her hair, as simple as she would've liked it. They laid down on the snow again, this time facing the city lights which was much more charming to the eye. Miharu silently handed over her present, which was wrapped up in a simple paper bag. The smell was intoxicating. Almost immediately it was ripped open, and greedy chewing noises echoed around them. A pair of eyes glowed crimson, almost shining in the night.

"I suppose I brought a nice gift. Right, Irina?"

Irina stopped all her actions, her shoulder slumping. "I-I'm sorry for eating like that. How rude of me." After licking her lips of the blood, she continued chewing more slowly and her expression was more refined and composed. "Thank you, too."

* * *

Orion had difficulty with speed, like most other koukaku users did. Another thing was that he practically stood at the side and yelled orders in Miharu's place (due to her lazy tendencies), so engaging in combat was never really his thing. So when he managed to crawl out of the Auction alive, he found it an absolute miracle, and much to his displeasure, he had realised just how much faster his crew was than him. This lead to his current situation: dodging all of Tatsuge's rinkaku. Although he was merely getting lightly slapped by them rather than stabbed, it made him feel extremely inferior. What he always called an idiot was now happily slapping him as he frantically dodged a few and got hit by the rest.

"Stop-ugh- hitting my- eek! Face!" Orion let out an uncharacteristic squeal as he got knocked backwards and onto the ground. Tatsuge laughed hysterically, rolling on the floor as his four rinkaku tails wriggled the same way. He let out a groan as the aristocrat had begun to crush his foot into his stomach repetitively. "I really need help! Don't make fun of me and give me advice dammit!"

"But this is my advice! Wahhhhh, you're hurting me- GAHHH! Your strength is astonishing...in that tiny body- krghhhhh!" Orion kicked him in the back, his face now blacked with no signs of amusement. "Just keep practising and you'll be fine, I promise! If you wanna take a break, I know a place with good women~"

"Ugh, no way I'll go with a loser like you." Orion sighed. He felt rather pathetic. "Enough practice for today then. I'll ask Yano for advice."

"Ehhhh? See you then~"

He grinned and waved goodbye with his kagune, still lying on the floor in what Orion would have called the 'Loser's position'. Orion didn't know whether to be disgusted or laughing at such a sight. Leaving the room, he walked down the corridor towards Yano and Miharu's lounging spot- the stairs. Not surprisingly both of them sat and blocked the way in an unruly manner, drinking blood in wine bottles and eating small pieces of meat off plastic dishes. They looked like a pair of drug addicts so to speak.

"We're high." Was the first thing Yano said as Orion gave them an extremely questionable look. "Just kidding. Seems like your training is not going too well."

"Obviously, so I figured you could give me some tips or something." His brows twitched as Miharu gave him a wry smile, as if congratulating him for being honest. "W-Well I thought you were really good...so it's not like I'm trying to get away from Tatsuge or anything..."

"That's brutal." Yano deapanned. "Anyway, I'm not a really good resource since my kagune is really different from yours, but if you keep training with Tatsuge I might be able to fill in some gaps."

"You want me to get slapped again?!"

"Unless you want Miharu-style speed training then yes, continue accepting slaps." Seeing Miharu's smile twist into something more 'evil', Orion nodded frantically, scurrying off again. He didn't want to see or listen about Miharu's way of training. Perhaps, it would be even more mocking than Tatsuge himself.

The next people on the list he could ask was Kikinoji and Kokonoe, but they weren't really the most commendable on speed (but still better than him). It disturbed him to see Kokonoe brandishing a knife, before placing it back onto the table and taking another one out to do the same. Kikinoji happily listened to the screeching noise as if it were music, in which was extremely odd in itself. It seemed like the both of them were so consumed in the activity they hadn't noticed him watching them (with a horrified expression). They weren't in the most sane ones whenever they were put together. Their off interests rubbed off on each other in a very murderous way. Orion decided to sneak away. _Why would Kokonoe need knives?_

Now he was alone, contemplating on what to do to improve himself. The entire setting around him didn't help him calm down, though. The ceiling lights weren't working well, leaving him in a rather dark corridor. The concrete flooring and walls were falling apart, holes all over. It didn't help that the visible scaffolding was also beginning to rust. It was quite a suffocating place with narrow hallways and many room lacked windows. What else could he have expected? It was an abandoned factory after all, albeit a poorly made one. No surprise it was left alone to rot. Out of impulse, Orion released his kagune. He closed his eyes and concentrated on moving the claw-like object protruding from his back. It comforted him. Crouching on the ground, he opened his eyes again.

"What am I doing..." He muttered. In the end, Tatsuge was still the best option.

* * *

Luna sat by Iori, who was lying on a hospital bed. Miharu's punch was much more lethal than it had seemed, but fortunately nothing had been ruptured or too fatally damaged. Iori was more than less able now. As she folded her scarf in her hands, Luna recalled her encounters. Tatsuge's horrified face had etched in her mind, as well as his rather limp state as Orion dragged him away from getting killed by investigators. To avoid getting killed by **her. **But more than that, she had learned a few things.

"A-Aisaka...san..." Iori pulled himself up, grimacing as the after-effects of painkillers hit his head like a wave. Luna's expression darkened as he tried to stay upright with difficulty. "Don't make that face. It's not your fault."

"I am aware of that. But I was thinking of how she could've just killed us there and then."

"She did mention something about 'her men'. Is she someone of a high rank, like an executive of sorts?" He pondered. After all, he never met with such a ghoul before.

"Not as of now...but she is the commander of the Kyoto branch. By now I believe they have raised her rank thanks to her influence over the Auction raid."

"I see. We must keep an eye out on her and those three we encountered then."

"About them..."

"They were the ones who captured you last time right? I can tell from your expression. The red-haired ghoul seemed quite shocked to see you." Iori eyed her carefully. From his few months of partnership he realised that behind the usual face of a mature, steadfast woman was a slightly irritable, straightforward person who actively sought for the truth. And her expression told him that there was more than trauma that had risen in her. "That face... do you...actually like him? That Crowley?"

"What? Did you actually suggest that Iori?" He jolted back at the tenacity of her glare, but something in her eyes wavered. It made him more determined to leech out the truth from her, whatever it was. "He's a ghoul."

"Sorry for reliving such a memory in you." Although apologetic, he knew he was getting somewhere. "As impossible as it sounds he seemed to regret what he had done. There must be a reason why he stopped all aggressive movement after seeing you. As your partner, Aisaka-san, I have no choice but to question you."

"On what level can I trust you?" Iori bit his lip as her words held back what he could call _inner pain. _"This is something personal. If you cannot proof yourself trustworthy, I cannot entrust you with this information."

"I..." He was speechless. Indeed he had not even become good friends with her, their relationship only revolving around work. Now he understood what Jinnou had meant by "breaking out of your shell" and to try opening up to others (with the fact that they could die any given time). "What can I do to achieve that?"

"...I wonder myself."

Silence prevailed once again. So the cycle of renewing his bandages, having meals with each other and occasional glances continued, the both of them unclear of what to do next. Unbeknownst to them was Jinnou who was standing near the door, softly sighing to himself. The investigators he had personally mentored weren't doing as well as he thought after all. At least, they were alive. Perhaps that was enough for him to keep smiling.

* * *

Authors Notes: Another late chapter...another short one...with not much relevance (?) to the main story. I've read over this story again and realised I have even forgotten some of the things I've written. And seems like a majority of you like Miharu! I'm slightly surprised because people I know whom I've shown this to either like Orion or Kokonoe. I feel like my writing style has changed quite a bit since the first chapter, and if given the time I would like to re-write them again. It felt as if I haven't flashed out my character's relationship with each other well enough, especially Luna and Tatsuge.

About my update schedule: Unfortunately life gets in the way or ideas don't come out, so it would quite unpredictable. Fingers crossed, hopefully this month will have more chapters!

Thanks for reading! R&amp;R is extremely appreciated (writer's block here so try to help me plis)! *insert doge face here*


	24. Breathe in the Darkness

**Breathe in the Darkness  
**_One second to breathe.  
The next to fight.  
_

* * *

Just run. She'd told him so, he himself thought the same way, so why _wasn't _he running? It was as if chains had emerged from the ground to cease his legs like a prison that had finally come to capture the escaping prisoner. It was around 100 metres away from the main site of battle, not too far away. Buildings were on fire. Pillars were cut down and crushed whatever was beneath it. Right in the middle were two individuals, clashing weapons as they darted back and forth from each other on the cracked road. His breath hitched when they seemed to draw closer and closer towards him.

The clouded sun still illuminated the vibrant turquoise sword, constantly absorbing the blood of its enemy as it continuously dug into the human flesh. A not-very-often manic smile had completely overtaken her face by now as her left hand held onto the pistol tightly, firing several rounds towards his chest only to have the ukaku shards eaten by the unpleasant armour that had wrapped around his body. She easily jumped away as the heavy sword swung down onto where she should've been, allowing her to cut through more pieces of the somewhat annoying kakuja-made item. He groaned as he felt it tighten around his body, his flesh burning even more due to it slowly being consumed. Miharu laughed as she hid herself behind rubble, quickly slicing him as she jumped from one corner to the next.

As if he had already learned of her movement in a few seconds, he kicked her as she tried her next move. Her body was sent flying, destroying the concrete she crashed right into before slumping down onto the ground. Another laughter was heard from her as she pointed Cocoa upwards into the sky, as if calling for something to happen. Whatever it was, the investigator would not allow it. Before he could run towards her, the sword's blade had become two thin bikaku tails, lifting the rubble before tossing it in his direction. Dust misted the area, causing him to cough.

"Payback time~"

Yano had barely dodged the investigator's body as Miharu used Cocoa to throw him to the other end of the road, making it skid across like a ragged doll. Unfortunately for her it did not do as much damage as she would've liked it to, but his head had now formed a gruesome gash of the left. She folded her arms as she casually walked towards her target, before stopping for a short moment to look at Yano. He gulped. But she put out a hand to him, her expression now more calmer and peaceful compared to her last. Hesitantly, he accepted it.

"I can't seem to move...this is...this..."

"Fear."

"What?"

"Yano, I'm sure you've realised by now right? If you're one of my men, it only means engaging in combat. Killing is inevitable. A sworn enemy is inevitable. Defeats and regrets only come with life~ so on blah blah. So hey, could you do me a favour?"

"Favour..."

"For instance, please kill him for me. You've never faced off like this, Mr Runaway~"

The investigator shakily stood on his feet, his vision blocked by the blood trickling down his face. Looking up, the woman he was fighting was no longer there anymore. In her stead, was a slender man with a gas mask, slightly levitating above the ground as his kagune allowed him to do so. Something about him felt off. A kind of blood lust that was kept bottled inside, leaking out slowly. Before he could even land punch into the replacement ghoul's face, a presence was right behind him. His breath stopped.

"I won't allow this-" Power surged within the armour, causing sparks to show up on its surface. Now parts of his skin had disappeared.

"Sure thing, mate." Yano shot at his head. Blood splattered out immediately, causing him to roll his eyes backwards and hit the floor. Miharu emerged from behind one of the pillars, clapping excitedly. "I did it..."

While Miharu and Yano had an excited exchange between each other, the investigator breathed shakily. He held and opened the pendant that Miharu had nicely left there for him, reminiscing his own life before his passed on, all alone. In it was simple a picture of a painting of a beautiful woman. Whoever it was, was the last he thought about.

* * *

"Yano, I was thinking..."

"Yes?"

"You really suck at melee."

"I can't help it, I'm an ukaku."

"...hm?" Miharu's eyes narrowed as she pulled on Yano's cheeks. "So you're telling me that you'll never ever fight someone face to face? How cheeky of you~"

"Owwww." He pushed her hands away. "Once danger gets near me, I leave. Simple as that."

"Stupid boy, that's why our tactics and plans get messed up!" She hit his head. "You know in the CCG, newbies are taught that ukaku can't do melee. And that in itself, is a hole in their educational system. So Yano~ you need to learn to stop running away. Even little Ayato does it better than you."

"...but that's the only thing I know how to do."

"Ah hah!" Yano's face whitened as his partner seemed to come up with an idea, a rather scheming smile on her face. "I'm an expert on melee fighting. All you have to do is learn, okay~?"

"...eh?"

"Hm! Now... let's start with our fists. Ready?"

"What?! Wait, no, please wait-"

"Go!"

Yano narrowly dodged her punch and quickly backed away. A comically displeased expression came across her face as she slowly walked towards him, readying her fist again. He gulped. Just a moment later he felt the wind cut beside him as her feet cut down onto his back, making him move away as quickly as possible again. His lips trembled as he saw her put a hand to her sword. Before he knew it, his body moved on it own and grabbed her arm. An amused grin formed on her face as Yano drew a quick punch to her stomach, which was unfortunately caught by her free hand. His body was flipped backwards and thrown onto the ground, in which he quickly stood up again. This time he tried to corner her by using the hit-and-run tactic, but his battle improvisation was too slow. Miharu took a step forward and knee-ed him in the stomach, causing him to crouch down in pain.

"You're getting a hang of it, Yano~" She huffed proudly as if she was the one who had made a great achievement. "Now, you have an idea of how sparring is like. Don't worry, I'll keep it to _once every week, _but I'll expect you to train yourself and come up with tactics to survive a battle with me. I don't need you to be a professional at it, but you're a real killjoy whenever you run away like a pussy during battle."

"Aren't you going to give me some advice or something...?"

"Nope. These kinda stuff come from experience. But I have to say, your arm muscles are kinda jelly for a ghoul." She poked his shoulder. "_Weak._"

"Can't you say something nice for once?"

"I like your eyes."

"...that wasn't what I wanted." Yano muttered, pulling his fringe down as he did so.

* * *

"Orion, how's your training going?" He continued to fix his gas mask as Orion sighed loudly. "Tatsuge's really pumped up for it."

"Yeah right he is. To see my bashed up face that is." Orion frowned and folded his arms together. "I am getting a hang of it though. Its a good thing I'm improving on reading patterns, parrying and knowing when to back out..."

"That's good process for a week. Much better than me at least."

"Hey, what kind of training did the Captain give you exactly?"

"She was complaining about how weak I was and suddenly started to spar with me...and I got beat up. After that she dropped a bunch of insults. Each week got worse, sometimes she even attacked me during missions."

"I think I remember seeing that happen."

"You sure did."

* * *

Authors Note: Hello and sorry for the short chapter! But rest assured, the next chapter will be released somewhere next week :) I will have to re-read the manga again to refresh my memory for the following events because its been awhile. If you are confused on how far back these events happened, its within the 3 year time-skip from TG to re. And of course the question of the chapter: What do you think of Miharu's and Yano's relationship? These questions are just for fun btw *secretly wants you to review*

Thanks for readin' mate! R&amp;R appreciated!


	25. Dreams in the Darkness

**Dreams in the Darkness**

_In which something you wish to obtain  
Disappears forever in the light of the day._

* * *

Miharu was looking through a list of names her father had given her for the next blood testing. It was so to make sure that all the investigators were in perfect shape for the next battle, a procedure recently implemented after finding out that illness was more likely to affect freshly promoted investigators due to fatigue and pressure. Also, it was to narrow down the possible candidates that could handle kakuja armour. The prototype was close to completion, and ready to be tested on. Disposable subjects were necessary for to project to go on, and this batch was Kiji's choice of sacrifice. She read off the names one by one, before checking on the actual people that had nervously lined up at the doorway.

"...Ryuzaki Natsume." Looking up, a man with hazel hair and eyes smiled gently, waving at her. Miharu nodded, before going on to confirm the presence of the others once more. Kiji stood waiting inside, as he reassured those who had entered. One went in at a time, and not everyone came out. The last in line was Ryuzaki, for his name was the last according to alphabetical order. He leaned down to Miharu's height and whispered.

"Your father... he's testing for the armour right? You know, the kakuja one." Miharu gave him a blank, wide-eyed stare. "Surprised you? Hehe. Kanou told me the other day when I went to visit him"

"You..." Miharu frowned and muttered. "Ryuzaki Natsume, correct?"

"Yes, that's me." He smiled once more. This time, a hint of mischief clouded his eyes. "Don't look so bothered. Hey, I'll shut up about it if you just go in with me. How about it?"

"I need to enter with the last person anyway." She deadpanned. "I want you to explain yourself to us."

"To you, you mean. Kiji-san already knows me." He shook his head with an exaggerated sigh. As he did so, the previous investigator came out with a slight skip to his steps. "Looks like he's happy to know that he's healthy. I wonder why no one has questioned the disappearance of some others, but oh well! It's our turn now!"

"Yeah."

"You want some candy? It'll make you smile, like this!" He grinned brightly. Miharu put a hand over her eyes as she took one from him. "So young yet so emotionless... it's bad for a researcher to not understand emotions you know?"

"I don't have to go to the extend of a smile _that _blinding, right?" She pushed the door open. Kiji was slightly surprised to see his daughter talking with a stranger. "Well. You're interesting."

"You too, young miss." He patted her head, before sitting down beside Kiji. Miharu returned to her post, she took up the name list and cancelled those who had left the room. As for those who stayed... they remained in an unconscious heap, slowly dragged away by Misane into another room. For some reason, she hoped that she could cancel Ryuzaki's name off the list.

After a while, Misane had cleared up all the people and called for Miharu to come over. Although curious about Ryuzaki's fate, she had to follow what her mother was saying and slid to the back.

* * *

Kiji held his daughter's hand as they walked down the hallway, his wife silently following behind. He smiled lightly whenever the young girl would ask him questions- smart questions in his opinion, answering them enthusiastically. Admittedly he was a little disappointed that Misane had given birth to a female, but now he saw how Miharu was the best child he could as for. Never ending curiosity, just like himself. On the other hand, Misane was quiet. Her footsteps were as silent as a ghost's, as if she were gliding. Reflected in her eyes were a pair of beings cloaked in a shroud of darkness.

"How have you been, Miharu-chan?"

"Pretty fine. I was looking forward to see your lab."

"Haha, how formal. Hey Kiji-kun, teach her how to relax a bit."

Kanou smiled at the young man as he led Miharu further into the room. Unlike their own, this laboratory was well lit, spacious and clean. The walls were white, and it seemed like a never ending maze as the repeated pattern of container glass passed them by, the only difference being its contents. They came to a point where the room got wider and several researchers were seen moving about at a steady pace at their stations. Kanou let Miharu use his card key to open the steel door to the left. He looked forward to her reaction when she saw his biggest plans at work...

The girl fell still. Grotesquely piled on the ground were corpses and half-dead bodies of investigators from the Ibaraki Raid that concluded a few hours ago. A few of them were on the operating table, their eyes open and screaming as their backs were cut open and an inhuman organ was placed within. Her eyes travelled around curiously, noting to herself it wasn't too much different from her place. In fact it was much cleaner and had fresher, constant supply of test subjects to work on.

"What do you think, Miharu?" Kanou leaned down closer to her. She gave him a wide, unexpected smile.

"You're disgusting." She bluntly stated, a blank look in her eyes. The old scientist chuckled and turned towards her slightly appalled father.

"Wow, she is honest. I like that. Where did you teach her to be like that, Kiji-kun?"

"Hm... she must've gotten that habit of smiling and insulting from Ryuzaki..." Kiji tapped his chin, a light frown on his face. "... I thought he'd be useful in helping her to become more _colourful._"

"Ah yes, Ryuzaki." Kanou folded his arms, strutting over to the side with a grin. "Do you want your daughter to be like him?"

"As long as she doesn't end up like Misane, it's fine."

"I see. How cold of you to say that of your wife, but it's fine isn't it?" He glanced over his shoulder. Misane was still silent, observing them talk as she occassionally spoke with passing researchers. "Miharu has a lot of potential. A constant, undeveloped experiment is a failure after all."

"Ah, I like this one." She went over to pull her father's hand, pointing at a container glass. A woman floated unconscious, her back weakly producing another rinkaku. "She looks like someone. Who is she?"

"Yes, I'm glad you noticed! That is..." Kanou put a hand on her shoulder. "Ryuzaki's mother."

"... he's a one-eyed."

"Not exactly! You see, he's from the _Garden._"

"Ryuzaki..."

"You're good friends with him right? But remember, being too attached to anything is not good. After all... those from the Garden don't last too long either way. Understand, Miharu?" Kiji patted her head as she nodded silently. Little did they know that she had slid in a document into her coat, sliding over to her mother's side. A small smile curved up her face. After all, once she was interested in something it would be a long time before she would let it go.

"Be careful Miharu-chan." A soothing, mellow voice came from behind. It became softer as it approached her. "You don't want those old men to find out about our _stash, _right?"

"Yeah!" An oddly cheerful response came from her. Kiji frowned as he noted that her smile was almost exactly like the man's. He was also curious to what he was saying to his daughter, but left it as a thought for next time.

"You just wanted to see some stuff here right? Yet Kanou's bugging you about so much stuff, like helping out with his own business." He had a seemingly calming and cheerful smile on his face. "Always tell annoying people to _fuck off _with a good smile okay?"

"But Ryuzaki... how long do you have left?"

"Hm, around 3 years maybe? I guess that means I won't get to see you grow up."

"What should I do then?"

"You can think of that on your own. Your life, your choice." With that, he held Miharu's hand and led her away from the laboratory. "So, does this make the last document we need to start our research?"

"Yeah." Miharu pulled out a piece of paper. It was a diagram on extracting kagune. "We need to be able to do the same things _they _do in order to make this a success..."

"Sorry Miharu-chan, but it's such a good idea!" Ryuzaki exaggerated. "I...no, we will make it happen. A living, self-aware quinqe. That, is a step to weapon evolution. It's going to take time and I'll probably die even before its into the prototype stages, but please Miharu-chan. I believe... it'll impact your life."

"What do you mean...?"

"Talk about me dreaming big, but if it could become a weapon and a companion, you wouldn't be so lonely anymore would you?"

"..."

"Ah, our surroundings are full of danger and we have to keep such an upscale project a secret. What can I say, fuck it all!" After his cheerful cursing, they had returned to the lobby where the sight of white sanitised walls were gone and people were not in lab coats, moving around at their varied paces. Miharu held Ryuzaki's hand as she observed each and every action of the investigators. Injuries covered a man all over the body. A female investigator had a despair-filled expression. A stereotypical snobbish higher-up that spoke to his subordinates haughtily. That was the world Ryuzaki lived in... and one day, she wished to experience it herself. No matter how tough it will be.

* * *

As the laboratory went up in flames, Miharu could only stare into Kiji's eyes as she felt a sharp pain going through her chest. A crazed smile lit on his face when she pushed him away almost immediately and sliced him with her sword without hesitation. He held his bloodied dagger shakily as he slowly moved backwards, chuckling as he finally fell onto the ground. Without looking back she had dragged her way out, the only one left alive in the chaos. Kiji was delighted. His daughter, the very image of himself had killed him...and was rather disappointed that she didn't pass on as well. He always wanted to know...just how it would look like to watch yourself writhe in pain and die. But, it also meant that he had made a durable product. Holding onto the dagger more tightly, he let the flames engulf him. Kiji couldn't move an inch either way. Miharu staggered towards the exit, holding tightly onto her quinqe. That thing, it could move. It could shape shift. It seemed to have a mind of its own.

In her hands was Ryuzaki's dream, made out of the darkness within her.

* * *

Authors Notes: I am so sorry for not uploading this earlier! Another short chapter, but I thought it fit the content. New information on Miharu and the man that influenced her greatly, Ryuzaki. If you are confused, she is around 12 to 13 during this period of time. This chapter does contain answers for some of the questions you might have, so pay great attention! Also, I have been working on the remake for awhile already. I will only start releasing it if I have a clear idea of my update schedule and have my story pre-planned (yes. I am a lazy ass and do not plan at all); also includes if you people actually want to see it. Either way, I'd like to see your opinions on the characters that have been introduced here!

Thanks for reading! R&amp;R appreciated!


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